MDPD-Pink
by hyperpsychomaniac
Summary: Boxter finally manages to arrest SheZow. He's ecstatic, until he discovers the Megadale Police Department has something other than a prison sentence in mind for the superheroine.
1. Chapter 1

It had happened. It had finally happened.

Guy put his head into his hands. He was handcuffed to a table in one of the Megadale police department's interview rooms. He'd been arrested no more than an hour ago – by his father no less. And he had been arrested as SheZow.

Luckily, Maz had had the sense to bolt. But the Shehicle was in the police impound. SheZow's hair was a mess. The only plus was they had yet wrangle from him his true identity. But that would be soon in coming. Guy groaned and thunked his head against the table top. "Dad is going to kill me. He's going to kill me and then he's going to ground me forever!"

The door to the interview room opened. It wasn't his father, thank God. The woman who entered was dressed in a smart business suit. She looked perhaps forty, with long dark hair, and she had a folder tucked under one arm. At first, her expression was grim, and then she smiled faintly. "I'm Detective Johansson. It seems your exploits have finally caught up with you, SheZow." She raised an eyebrow. "Or is there something else I can call you?"

Yeah, like he was that stupid. "SheZow is fine."

Johansson shrugged and slipped into the chair opposite him. She tossed the folder onto the table. It made a heavy thump as it landed. It was at least an inch thick. "You know why you're here, right?"

Guy sighed, blowing a bedraggled strand of hair back from his face. "I know I probably shouldn't have taken the Shehicle through that wind tunnel."

"Probably not."

"But if you wanted Coldfinger to bury half of Megadale under six feet of snow, I suppose I could've skipped that."

"Hmm." Johansson smiled at him.

Guy frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"No, we don't want Megadale beneath six feet of snow. You're right. However, you did cause a lot of damage, and that's the problem."

Guy let out an exasperated huff. "I'm constantly helping you guys, why do you hate me so much? It's Shediculous! Now I'm in trouble?! I'm just trying to help."

"Then let me help you."

Guy eyed the woman suspiciously. "How...?"

"Cards on the table? I can have the charges against you dropped. And I can have your vehicle…"

"It's called the Shehicle."

"…you're Shehicle returned to you."

It almost sounded too good to be true. "And you don't want to know my identity?"

Johansson shook her head. "Nope. But only if you do something for me."

"Yeah?" Guy leaned forward onto the table. He didn't know what she wanted, not yet. But if it avoided his father finding out about his double life, he was all ears.

Johansson leaned forward as well. "I actually think you help Megadale a lot. There're some villains our department simply does not have the resources to take down. But you do. The only problem…"

"I break things."

"Basically, yes."

Guy ran a hand through his hair subconsciously. He couldn't really mess it up any more than it was already. "I'm not sure I can promise to stop breaking things. It just kind of happens."

"That's not what I want. You do good, but you're a loose cannon. I think I can help you fix that."

Guy chewed his lip. He wasn't sure he liked where this was going. But he had little choice. He couldn't let his identity be discovered. His Dad would be furious. And then his family would probably have to move to the moon. He drew in a breath. "Okay, tell me what it is you want me to do."

* * *

Boxter was giddy with all the attention. Finally, he was getting a bit of recognition! He still couldn't believe he'd managed to catch SheZow. It hadn't really been any great feat. He'd simply hustled the dazed heroine into the back of his police vehicle before she'd had a chance to realise what was happening. All through the drive back to the station he'd been waiting for the back of the car to be rocked as she shot off through the roof, or out the back windscreen. But it hadn't happened; her hair was a mess, and it seemed that was enough to keep her contained.

Sure, she'd rattled the metal grate partition, begged him to let her go, and finally called him a 'big meanie'. That had only made Boxter start laughing. In response she'd stopped making a racket and sat in the back seat pouting. Hell, he'd had more troublesome drunks in there.

"Yeah, so I told her we'd had enough of her mucking around in police business. I seriously doubt we have to worry about cleaning up SheZow's messes anymore." Boxter leaned back on a nearby desk. He had the undivided attention of nearly every officer in the station. Of course, some of that attention may have been because someone had been down to the supermarket and brought in a cake. But if the cake was for him, as far as Boxter was concerned any attention focused on that cake could also be legitimately counted.

Wackerman clapped him hard on the shoulder. "Well, it's about time, buddy. SheZow's been bugging you for months."

"Yeah, and we hear all about it," one of the other officers added. He cracked a smile and raised a plastic wine glass filled to the brim with orange juice. "Let's hear it for Hamdon!"

A cheer went up from the other officers. Wackerman's voice was muffled slightly by a mouthful of cake.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet." Detective Johansson came into the room.

She was followed closely by a sheepish-looking SheZow. The heroine's hair still looked a little ruffled.

"It's okay, we've saved you some cake!" said Wackerman, spitting cake crumbs.

SheZow met Boxter's eye, and Boxter smirked. "About time we got you, SheZow. What's wrong, not as invincible as you thought you were?" He frowned, and took his weight off the desk. "Hey… where are her handcuffs?"

Johansson raised a hand. "Settle down, Hamdon. I've got her under control."

Boxter glared at SheZow. She didn't seem to be trying to escape. He allowed some of the tension to drain from his shoulders, but he was still wary. "So what's going on then? You got a confession out of her already? Convinced her to tell us who she really is?"

"Not exactly." Johansson drew in a breath. "I've had a chat with SheZow and we've come to an agreement. We've made a deal to drop all charges on the condition that…"

"What?!" Hamdon exploded. He knew it! He knew it was too good to be true! "Are you kidding me? What kind of bureaucratic nonsense is this?! You know the kind of trouble she causes; she trashes half of Megadale…"

"… saves your butt, does your job for you…" SheZow added under her breath.

"You stay out of this! Don't you get it? We've finally got her!"

"Yes. So now that we have her we can teach her to protect Megadale without causing so much damage. We've got an opportunity here…"

"More like a disaster waiting to happen," Boxter drawled. "You gonna set her loose? You want to take responsibility for that?"

"Yes."

"This is ridiculous! You sit behind a desk; you have no idea what she's like!"

Behind him, Wackerman choked over his piece of cake.

Johansson barely seemed offended; she just raised an eyebrow. "You're saying you've got a better idea what she's capable of than I do?"

"Yes!"

"You think you know how to take care of her better than me too, then?"

Boxter squared his shoulders. "Yeah… yeah, I think I do."

Johansson nodded. "Good. This should work out perfectly then."

That was not the response he had expected. Boxter suddenly had a very bad feeling in the pit of his gut. "What…?" he said, all the anger gone from his voice.

Johansson walked past him and picked up the last piece of cake from its plastic tray. "SheZow is going to be your new partner." She took a bite of cake. "Congratulations."

For a moment, Boxter just stared at her. Someone let out a short laugh, then snorted like they'd just inhaled orange juice.

"Hey, wait," Boxter stuttered. "Don't I get a say in this?!"

Johansson was already halfway back to her office. "Nope."

Boxter stared a SheZow.

She waggled her fingers at him. "Um… hi… partner."

"Can I request a transfer?" Boxter yelled across the office.

"No."

Boxter's shoulders sagged. The other officers were starting to disperse. But then, Johansson had taken the last piece of cake.

"So who's going to be my partner?" said Wackerman mournfully.

"No…" Boxter sank back against the desk behind him, putting a hand to his face. "Why me?"

"Um…" said SheZow. "Anyone in here got some hairspray?"

* * *

 **A/n:** Okay, so I came up with this idea and I just couldn't not write it. This seriously has a whole heap of possibilities for making these guys' life hell. Yes, it's going to be a somewhat done-already two 'cops' who just don't get on forced to be partners. But this would totally work for SheZow and Boxter. XD

I'm probably not going to be able to update as often as I did for the last fic I posted here. I've got a lot of stuff on at the moment and a lot of more important writing I really need to be doing. And I've only partially figured out the main plot for this (and some of the insane silly things that're going to happen). But I thought I'd put this first bit up and see what response it got. So please review. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Guy had no transport so he'd had to walk. And with SheZow's hair in a state he hadn't been able to use his super speed. He powered down a block away from his house and shuffled in through the front door, puffing. He arrived barely minutes before dinner time.

Kelly confronted him almost immediately. "Guy! Where have you been? Maz told me what happened…"

Guy stared at her. "Um, then you know I was at the cop shop!"

"Yeah!" Kelly exploded. "As SheZow! What were you thinking?!"

"Gee, I don't know, maybe that I wanted my identity revealed and to move to the moon?! I didn't do it on purpose!"

Kelly drew in a breath. "Okay, okay, but what happened? Did you escape?"

Guy tugged at his sweaty collar. "Not exactly…"

"They let you go?"

"Not exactly."

"Well," Kelly put her hands on her hips. "Spill it."

"I have to work with the cops. Otherwise they won't give me back the Shehicle." Guy rubbed at the back of his neck.

"They've got the Shehicle? Guy!"

"Don't yell at me! I had to walk back!"

"Okay, that's not that bad, I mean, it can't be that bad. We're on school holidays, so you won't be missed at school. It can't be for that long."

Guy threw his arms wide. "It is that bad, Kelly! I have to work with…"

There was a rattle at the door and their father pushed his way in behind them. Guy cringed and flattened himself against the wall. Kelly frowned at him.

Boxter looked haggard and grumpy. He glanced between the two of them, as if he somehow guessed they were up to something. "Aw, come on kids, don't muck around in the hallway." Not that he sounded particularly angry. He moved off into the dining room. "Droosha, honey…"

"Wait," said Kelly. "They've," she lowered her voice, "they've got you working with Dad?!"

Guy nodded, eyes wide.

"Oh, no."

* * *

At the dinner table, his father was in full swing. "I mean, it's not like I don't have enough trouble with her, now they want me to work with her! She's a criminal; she should be behind bars!"

"Well, maybe you can teach her how to fight crime properly, dear," said Droosha. "I mean, SheZow can't be all bad. Maybe she just needs someone who knows what they're doing to help her."

Boxter groaned and put his head in his hands.

"Yeah, Dad," Guy put in. "I mean, you can't really think SheZow is unteachable?"

Boxter looked up and let out a sigh. "Wanna bet?"

"Well, can't you just say she's a really great partner and she's learnt everything you can teach her and they should give her her supercar back?" Underneath the table, Kelly kicked him. "Ow!"

"How'd you know we had her car?"

"Um, duh… I mean, why else would she agree to work with you guys? You'd have to have something on her."

"She should be in jail. I don't understand why we're rewarding criminals."

"She's not a criminal, she's a superhero," Guy snapped.

"She's a criminal with good branding," Boxter muttered.

"Honey," said Droosha. "Unless you up and decide to quit the force you're going to have to go into work tomorrow, and you're going to have to work with SheZow. Why don't you just give it a go and see how everything goes? Maybe you'll find she'll behave herself just to get her car back. I'm sure it'll be fine."

* * *

"No, this is not fine."

Down in the she-lair, Kelly and Guy had filled in Sheila on the developments of the day.

"That's what I said," Guy muttered. "I can't work with Dad!"

"Looks like you're going to have to," said Kelly. "Maybe you should have thought of that before you got arrested."

"The chances of your secret identity being discovered are greatly increased if you're going to be working with your father all day," Sheila elaborated.

"I can protect my identity! That's not what I'm worried about!"

"Guy, it's Dad! Sheila's right. He knows you too well…"

"He's hardly going to recognise me in pink."

"You can only keep your voice straight ninety percent of the time."

"Actually, at the moment it's more like seventy six point five percent of the time," said Shiela. "I've been keeping a running score."

Guy glared at the supercomputer. "Jeesh, thanks, Sheila…"

"But you're going to have to make an effort. You need the Shehicle back, so you're going to have to earn it back, despite the risk. Just don't let anything slip that might give you away."

"No, wait!" Guy paced the she-lair. "I just need the Shehicle back, right? It's probably just in the police impound. I'm SheZow; I can just sneak in and steal it back."

"No, you can't," said Sheila.

"Why not?!"

"Because it's illegal," Kelly sighed. "SheZow can't steal! You know something bad will happen to you if you do."

"But it's my car!" Guy's voice cracked.

"What are you so scared of anyway? Just go and do a few days, or whatever it is they want. Just try not to talk to Dad too much, or at least keep your voice all SheZowie. It can't be that hard."

"I just," Guy stopped his pacing. "What if he doesn't think I'm good enough? He already hates SheZow…"

Kelly looked at him. "Aw, Guy…"

"You'll do fine, sweetheart," said Sheila. "Just keep your head down. Don't do anything too…"

"Flamboyant?" Kelly offered.

"Just do what your father tells you and try not to cause any trouble," said Sheila. "That shouldn't be too difficult. You'll have the Shehicle back in no time."

* * *

Guy found his way down to the police station the next day. Boy, how he missed the Shehicle! Even with super speed it really was a pain running everywhere.

Outside a number of cop cars were still parked, some pulling away to go out on patrol as Guy arrived. Boxter was waiting for him, leaning against his police car with a coffee cup in hand. He was frowning and trying to avoid eye contact with the other cops, staring instead at his coffee.

Guy gulped. "Well, here goes nothing… um… hi, Officer Hamdon," he said, forcing a grin. Jeesh, it was going to be really hard not to accidentally call him 'Dad'.

Boxter looked up at him and his frown deepened. "What's wrong with your voice?"

Guy cringed. Oh, he was off to a sherrific start! He cleared his throat. "I'm a bit… ahem… husky on a morning."

"Right…" Boxter sighed. He turned and tossed the coffee cup into a nearby trash bin. "Look, I don't like this anymore than you do…"

Guy shrugged. "Well, it might be fun…"

"You're not serious?"

"Ah… no, not really…"

One of the other cop cars pulled up beside them on its way out and blew its horn. The driver's window dropped down. "Hey, Hamdon," said Wackerman, grinning. He certainly looked in a better mood than yesterday. "Guess what? They've got me a new partner already!"

"Oh, well that's good," said Boxter. He smiled at his usual partner, but it looked forced. "I hope you had better luck than me…"

"Hey!" Guy snapped.

Boxter ignored him, instead putting a hand on Wackerman's roof and leaning down so he could get a better look at the passenger side. "So who's…" The smile fell from his face and his jaw dropped. Then he exploded: "You replaced me with a bitch?!"

"Hamdon!" said Wackerman.

Guy's eyes widened in shock at his father's language, then he realised he was probably supposed to be offended. "Hey!"

This time, Boxter did look at him. "Sorry, I didn't mean… well, look!" He stepped back from the window to let SheZow see.

In Wackerman's passenger seat sat a very happy looking German Sheppard in a blue police vest. She wagged her tail and let out a yap.

"Oh, a puppy!" Guy exclaimed.

Wackerman's happy mood had vanished. "She's not a puppy," he scowled. "Or a bitch. She's a police officer, just like you and me, Hamdon. And I wouldn't mind if you both treated Sandy with a bit more respect!"

Sandy seemed completely unperturbed by disrespect, real or imagined. She just kept wagging her tail, let out a woof, then tried to lick Wackerman.

Boxter too seemed unmoved by Wackerman's little speech. "Wackerman," he said, expressionless. "You replaced me with a police dog."

"No, the brass replaced you with a police OFFICER! And you replaced me first, just remember that!" Wackerman rolled up his window and drove off with a screech of tyres.

"Wackerman, come on…" Boxter called after him.

Wackerman didn't stop but Sandy could be heard barking, head out her window, all the way down the street.

"Awkward," Guy offered.

"Just get in the car."

"Can I drive… never mind."

In the car they both buckled up, and Boxter pulled out without a word.

"So…" Guy began.

"Look, we both don't want to be here…"

"Well, I actually do…"

Boxter glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"… I want to get my car back."

His father huffed. "Yeah, real sense of civic duty you've got there, SheZow."

Guy gritted his teeth. Seriously, he was really trying… "What is your problem with me anyway, Officer Hamdon? I'm just trying to do the same thing you guys do; I just get to use a better car."

"You don't do anything like a cop! What's my problem? Where do I start? You don't follow the law, you trash half of Megadale at least twice a week. You chase off villains before we even get there, so we can't arrest them and get them off the streets. And I always seem to end up cleaning up your mess!"

Guy hadn't expected such an extensive list at short notice. "Oh, is that all…"

"Need I go on?"

"No! But I take care of the problem, don't I? Faster than the police do! I mean, I could save the day twice over and stop for icecream before you guys even get there…"

"Yeah? Well, we don't have supercars, do we? And guess what? Neither do you right now. So, I might have to put up with you in my car, but at least you're going to have to behave yourself."

"Pfft. I don't need a supercar to take down villains," Guy waved a hand dismissively. "So, what's first then? Show me a villain. Who are we going to fight now? I'll show you how to…"

"We're not taking down any villains!" Boxter snapped. "There aren't any crimes in progress, alright?"

"So what? Donut break?"

Boxter just stared at him. "Seriously, is that what you think we do all day?"

Guy shrugged. "Maybe…"

Boxter huffed. "We don't… do you think I'd stay this fit if I just ate donuts all day?!"

"I figured you ran that off getting to crime scenes I'd already taken care of?" Guy smirked.

Boxter gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. "I don't know what I did to deserve this."

"You arrested me, remember?"

Boxter groaned.

"So, what are we doing then?"

Boxter drew in a breath. "There're some lights out across town…"

"You fix traffic lights?"

Boxter stared at him again. "I don't even… just do what I tell you, alright? Don't mess this up."


	3. Chapter 3

"You know, I really thought people were better drivers than this. No wonder I run rings around them in the Shehicle."

Boxter stared at the five car pile-up in the centre of the intersection at SheZow's feet. Horns were blaring, engines were blowing black smoke and people were swearing.

"I told you to let me handle it!"

"You were being too slow!" SheZow shouted back at him. "The traffic was backing up!"

"Yeah, and it's so much better now!"

Some of the angry motorists were beginning to get out of their cars, having just about expended their expletives on each other. But now they were turning their attention outwards towards the cause of the accident. Boxter cringed. "Alright, you keep them under control, SheZow. I'm calling back up…" He bolted for the nearby police car.

"Hey, wait, don't leave me!" SheZow called after him.

* * *

She couldn't possibly mess up a speed trap. Hold a radar gun, point it at an oncoming vehicle, take a reading. Simple.

And it seemed to be working. SheZow even let him show her how to use the gun.

But it wasn't more than fifteen minutes before: "This is boring!"

"Good," Boxter leaned back against the cop car at the side of the road behind SheZow. He was watching her like a hawk. "You shouldn't be able to break anything."

"Yeah, but…"

A car zipped past them.

"Ooo!" SheZow exclaimed.

Boxter took his weight off the car. "Okay, what's the reading?"

"Sixty-seven…"

SheZow was actually listening to him! Hooray for small miracles. "Yeah, okay, and this is a sixty zone, so…"

"We got one!" SheZow squealed with delight. Then she promptly took to the air and sped off after the departing vehicle.

"SheZow, wait! That's not how it works!"

She returned touting the offended vehicle and the terrified driver above her head. "Look, I got them!"

"SheCOW! Put that car down, now!" Boxter barked.

She did. In a splintering crash of metal.

* * *

Back in the cop car both were silent. Boxter stared resolutely ahead.

SheZow had her arms folded and stared out the passenger window. Why was she pouting?

"Well, I hope you're happy," Boxter drawled. "I'm pretty sure you actually outdid your previous damage bill – and we didn't even run into any villains!"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have yelled at me and I wouldn't have dropped that car!" she huffed.

"Why are you even mad? You got PMS or something?"

SheZow stared at him and for a moment her face was blank. "PM… what… oh…" Then she just laughed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that I don't, thank you very much."

"Sure."

"Well, what's your excuse then? Didn't you get your morning donut?"

Boxter scowled, but it was at that moment that his stomach decided to let out a growl.

SheZow just raised an eyebrow in triumph.

"Alright, fine! We missed smoko! We had to clean up that traffic accident, remember? Jeesh…"

SheZow frowned at him for a moment. "Do you want to get one? Will it make you feel better…"

"I don't want a donut!"

SheZow's ring let out a flash of light and suddenly there was a forty inch holographic screen in the vehicle with them.

"Good… grief…" Boxter started. He swerved a little to the side before regaining control of the police vehicle. "What is that?"

"Shemergency, Shemergency!" said a pair of plump pink lips from the holographic screen. "Mocktopus is attacking the downtown fish market."

"That's Sheila," said SheZow. "She's my supercomputer; she tells me when stuff is going down."

"And a whole lot more. But it'd take too long to list it all here. Hello, Officer Hamdon. May I just say I've seen some of your work on the city's surveillance cameras? Very nice…" Sheila purred. "I mean, for a carbon based life form."

"Er… is your computer hitting on me?"

"Um… probably… thanks Sheila," SheZow shut down the screen, "Finally, a villain! We should go check it out."

"Oh no," Boxter growled. Was a supercomputer being attracted to you a good or bad thing? "How do I know that thing of yours is even accurate? Nothing's come over the…"

The radio crackled to life. "Calling all units in the downtown area…"

"Well, that explains why you're always late," said SheZow.

Boxter picked up the radio handset. "This is Hamdon, and… SheZow. We're responding."

Luckily, it wasn't too far to the fish market. Boxter couldn't have lived it down if they arrived too late. Just something else for SheZow to pick on him about. He brought the cop car to a screeching halt as they reached the pier. There were people running past and the pier was almost clear already. About halfway up Mocktopus was flinging fish from a boardwalk stall in a flurry of tentacles.

"Well," said SheZow. "Mocktopus shouldn't be too hard for you to take care of."

Did Droosha say she was buying fish for dinner tonight? She'd been trying to tell him something about dinner when he'd been dragging himself out the door, but he hadn't been listening, too busy worrying about dealing with SheZow. Dammit. He hoped she wasn't anywhere around.

"Come on," Boxter steeled himself and stepped out of the vehicle.

"Maybe you'd better let me handle this," said SheZow.

"Um, excuse me?"

"You're just a cop; Mocktopus is a scary tentacle monster…"

"Just a cop!" Boxter snapped. "I'll show you just a cop!"

He stomped up the pier, SheZow close behind.

Mocktopus was still digging through fish. "Pilchard… no… Haddock… ew, ew, ew, come on people, where's the Salmon?"

"Hey, fish-sticks!" Boxter shouted. "Megadale Police Department! You're under arrest!"

"Seriously, fish-sticks?" SheZow muttered.

Mocktopus spun around. "Oh Lordy, not the Megadale Police Department! What you gonna do, put me in handcuffs?" He held two tentacles together in front of himself. "You sure you've got enough…" The smirk died on his face. "SheZow? What are you doing here with this guy?"

"I'm working for the cops now, sushi-breath!" said SheZow. "So you'd better get ready; you're in for a world of hurt!"

"Sushi-breath?" Boxter rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Mocktopus spluttered. He whipped out two tentacles he'd been holding behind his back. Two fish hurled through the air. SheZow jumped, but Boxter copped a face full of Haddock.

"Fiiiiish slap!" Mocktopus squealed.

The blow knocked Boxter to the boardwalk, dazed.

"Hey!" SheZow shouted. She zipped in and smacked Mocktopus with the fish he'd thrown at her.

"Ooo, you little sneak! Come here!" Mocktopus flailed his tentacles around, trying to grasp at SheZow.

But SheZow was too fast, darting between the tentacles, and getting in the occasional slap with the fish she'd picked up. Apparently she found the fish slap entertaining because she didn't seem to want to try anything else, giggling as she continued to get the better of Mocktopus.

Boxter scowled. This wasn't a game! He pushed himself back to his feet.

Mocktopus and SheZow continued their slap fight, crashing about the pier and smashing through the fish stalls. If he let them have it out they'd destroy the entire pier.

"Alright…" He'd already got a face full of fish. So touching a tentacled sea monster probably wasn't going to make his day any worse. And it was his job. Boxter pulled out a pair of handcuffs and made his way around the fighting pair, until he was behind Mocktopus. Using the end of a stall to gain a bit of height he launched himself onto Mocktopus' back.

Mocktopus squealed. "Omg. Something's touching me!"

"You're under arrest!" said Boxter. He grappled for a tentacle.

"Officer Hamdon!" SheZow dropped her fish and grabbed onto one of Mocktopus' tentacles, further limiting the monster's movement. "Handcuffs?!"

"You got a better idea?!"

"I can punch him in the head!" SheZow did just that.

"Ow, get off me! Police brutality!" Mocktopus flailed about.

"Yeah, then he'll just crawl off! We need to arrest him!"

"With handcuffs?! Tentacles, hello? What good are handcuffs going to do?!"

One of Mocktopus' free tentacles snaked up around Boxter's middle. Slimy, and sticky. He shuddered. "Well, excuse me little Miss Super-gadgets! But the Megadale Police Department has something called a budget! Just find something better to tie him up with!"

"Okay, okay…" SheZow released her grip and flew back a few feet. "I know!"

Mocktopus flung out two free tentacles and sent SheZow spinning.

Boxter tried to grip onto Mocktopus tighter, but it was really hard because he was so slippery.

"Get off you!" Mocktopus got a tentacle around him and pulled.

SheZow righted herself. "Ballistic fish nets!" She flung what at first looked like a little ball of pink, but then it expanded into a net. Which would have been useful, apart from the fact that Mocktopus had squirmed around such that he'd partially moved out of the way. And put Boxter right into the path of SheZow's ammunition.

The net caught him first and then Mocktopus' right side, throwing them both to the edge of the pier. They slid to a halt and Boxter found himself hanging over the edge, staring down at the surging ocean below. It probably wasn't more than eight feet deep this far out, but the net was heavy and he was complete entangled.

Mocktopus had two or three tentacles caught in there too. The monster struggled upright, flailing against the net. He dragged Boxter back up from the edge. "Get this off of me! Ew!" He lifted his tail and electricity sparked around it.

Boxter's eyes widened. "Oh, shit…"

Mocktopus began to slice through the parts of the net holding his tentacles in a panic.

Boxter pressed back as far as he could. The hairs on his arm stood on end as the electrified tail swung far too close for comfort.

Mocktopus pulled himself free and Boxter was about to let out a sigh of relief when he felt himself hoisted into the air in the shredded tangle of net.

"I'll teach you to manhandle me, you little sneak!" Mocktopus brought around his electrified tail, right in front of Boxter's face.

Boxter closed his eyes as the sparking tail came towards him. Yeah, this was really going to make his day. But no shock of electricity came. All he heard was a yelp and then he was dropped back to the ground.

"Let go of me, SheZow!"

SheZow gripped the sparking tail but Mocktopus' flailing soon shook her loose. She dropped down to the boardwalk next to Boxter. She looked a little dazed and her hair stood out at all angles.

Boxter just stared at her. She'd taken that hit for him. On purpose. "You alright, sweetheart?"

SheZow held up a finger and blew out a little puff of smoke. "Sherrific. Just all… tingly." She tried to stand up. "Oh no, my superpowers. My hair's a mess, isn't it?"

"It has looked better."

Mocktopus reared up over them. "I'll show you, you…"

Something behind them let out a howl and then a bundle of fur leapt over their heads and ploughed into Mocktopus' midsection. Mocktopus squealed, overbalanced and fell off the edge of the pier.

"What the what?" said SheZow.

From beneath the pier came the sound of splashing, squealing and yelping.

"Leggo!" screeched Moctopus. "Ow, fine! Keep your stupid fish! Stupid, meddling cops! I'll get you and your little dog too!"

There was a scrabble of claws at the edge of the pier and Sandy the police dog pulled herself back up. She shook herself vigorously, let out a woof and then began to wag her tail madly.

"Sandy!" Wackerman jogged up the pier, puffing though he couldn't have run more than a dozen meters. "You can't run off on your partner like that! It's against… against regulations!"

"At least I'm not the only person having trouble with my partner."

"Hey, I just saved you from getting zapped!"

"Yeah, are you okay?" Boxter winced.

SheZow waved him off. "Fine, I just need…" she reached into her belt. "Some shellac!" She then proceeded to spray the can she'd retrieved all over her hair.

Boxter couldn't get his arm up fast enough under the weight of the net and copped a face full.

SheZow leapt to her feet. "There! All fixed!"

Any shred of concern Boxter had for her vanished instantly. "Oh, come on!" he coughed. "I hope you're happy!"

"What? Sandy took care of Mocktopus…"

"We were trying to arrest him!" It was at that moment that Sandy decided to climb all over Boxter and lick him. "Get off me, Sandy…"

"She likes you," SheZow giggled.

"She's also the only one who seems concerned I'm still stuck in a net."

Wackerman and SheZow helped Boxter extricate himself. Boxter straightened himself up and rolled his shoulders. He didn't feel great, but it didn't feel like he'd broken or seriously bruised anything.

SheZow looked at him. "You smell like fish."

Boxter had had enough. "You really are a piece, aren't you?!"

"Grateful, much? I saved you!"

"Yeah, only from yourself!"

"Yeah, but…"

"A net!? You nearly knocked me off the damn pier, then I nearly got electrocuted!"

"We were fighting Mocktopus! It happens…"

"We weren't fighting him! We were supposed to be arresting him! And you start with what, the fish slapping?! I don't even care if you'd used your superpowers properly, or those net things then, instead of thumping him around like it was some game! If you'd thrown at net on him straight up would've had him. No, you've got to play around and show off, nearly get us killed, and then lose Mocktopus!"

"I saved you from Mocktopus!"

"The dog saved us from Mocktopus! How do you like getting upstaged by a dog, SheZow? Because that's what I have to deal with!"

"Hamdon…" Wackerman said nervously.

"You can't direct traffic, you can't use a speed gun, you don't give a damn what happens to your partner… I don't care what some misguided detective tells me, I can't work like this!"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" said SheZow. She started fiddling with the bottom of her skirt. "We were supposed to be arresting him! I'll do better next time. I get it! I'm supposed to follow the law, because I'm a cop now, and…"

Boxter's fists clamped and he saw red. "You are NOT a cop, SheZow! You're the most bloody useless cop I've ever come across. You don't have the faintest idea how to be one! Nothing's going to convince me otherwise!"

SheZow looked down at her feet, still fiddling with the bottom of her skirt and chewing her lip.

Sandy cocked her head to the side and let out a little whimper.

Was she…? Boxter's chest heaved and he felt some of the anger leave him.

SheZow had tears in her eyes as she finally looked up at him. "Well, I won't bother you anymore today then, Officer Hamdon. You've probably got really important police business… to… to do…" She took to the air.

Boxter watched her leave, frowning. He could feel a knot building in his throat. Why would she even care what he thought? She was a superhero.

"Wow," said Wackerman. "You're really on a roll today, aren't you?"

"Shut up, Wackerman."

Wackerman sighed. "Yup. Definitely a roll. Come on, Sandy."

The police dog trotted behind Wackerman. Not even she bothered to stop to give Boxter a goodbye lick.

Boxter let out a sigh and shoved his hands in his pockets, then made his way back to his idling police vehicle.

* * *

 **A/n:** If this was an episode, there would be a whole montage of scenes with SheZow trying to do cop things and stuffing them up. And donut jokes. Doesn't quite work the same in writing, so there's only a couple of random stuff ups.

And Mocktopus is seriously fun to write. He's basically just in here so I can write some lines for him. XD


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n:** Sorry for the delay in posting this. Life is busy. D:

* * *

Droosha was starting to feel that tonight's dinner may have been a lost cause.

Guy stared moodily at his plate, poking his food around and avoiding eye contact with everyone. Kelly kept trying to get his attention but he was ignoring her. Maybe they were fighting about something. That wasn't exactly unusual.

She knew why her husband was moody. SheZow annoyed him on a regular basis so it was small wonder that working with her had made him even more so. But Boxter was beyond even his usual complaining about SheZow's antics and was instead quiet. Something must have really ticked him off.

Well, it looked like it'd be up to her to lighten things up.

"So, how did work go today, honey?"

Boxter poked a baby potato around his plate. "Fine."

Wonderful. Droosha turned her attention to her kids. "What about you, Guy? Did you do anything interesting today?"

"Not really," Guy too was poking his food. He'd only taken a few bites.

"Sweetie, how many times do I have to tell you, don't play with food," Droosha sighed.

"Why not? Dad's doing it."

"Guy…" Except that it was true. Droosha tried to catch her husband's eye and give him a good glare. It failed. He was pretty obviously in his own world. Grief, what had SheZow done now? "Oh, look, it's okay. You don't look like you're had a good day; what's wrong?"

Guy looked at her only briefly. "Nothing. Some people are just jerks…"

"Aw, what happened?"

"Nothing," Guy said grumpily. "Why don't you ask Dad about SheZow? I'm sure he's got plenty more to complain about than I do. It's not like I had to work with a bombshell…"

Boxter looked up and frowned. "You're attracted to SheZow?"

"What, no!" Guy snapped. "Like a disaster."

"That's not what it means…"

Kelly had her phone out, googling. "Bombshell: a very attractive woman…"

"See," Boxter sighed.

"… or an overwhelming surprise or disappointment…"

"Honey, put away your phone."

"Sorry, Mom." Kelly slipped it back under the table.

"Okay, fine. Double meaning."

"That last one actually did sound more accurate though, right Dad?" said Guy.

"Maybe…"

"Whatever!" Guys shoved his chair back and it scraped across the tiles with a screech. "I'm not hungry anyway; I'm going up to my room."

"Guy…" But her son was already gone.

Kelly stood up as well but without the drama. "Um, I think Guy had a fight with Maz, so he's kinda… can I go talk to him?"

Droosha sighed. Yeah, definitely a lost cause. "Okay."

Boxter frowned as Kelly left. "Did I say something?"

"Of course not."

Her husband gave a tired shrug. "Good. I've already caused enough trouble for one day."

Droosha picked up her plate and slipped into the free chair at Boxter's right side. For as long as she could remember, on the nights when the kids were out with friends, or had left the table for whatever reason, they'd always sat as close as they could together. Just because they had a family sized table didn't mean they couldn't make it intimate when the chance arose.

Boxter smiled at her faintly. "Hey."

"So what happened?"

Boxter turned his attention back to his food. "How do you know something happened?"

"Sweetheart, it's SheZow. You usually can't keep quiet about the latest thing she's broken. But tonight you seem to be lost in your own little world. So what did she do?"

Boxter drew in a sigh and then just shrugged. "She… she just was SheZow. You know, she breaks stuff, she won't listen. And don't try and verbally spar with her, she gets a bit nasty."

"So…"

He didn't need much prodding now. "We ended up fighting Mocktopus. It didn't go so well. He got away and it could've been worse, but," Boxter paused and prodded a potato with his fork but didn't do anything with it. "I got mad at her for messing everything up and I probably went a bit overboard… I think I made her cry."

"Oh, honey…"

"You know I don't like doing that," he said sheepishly. "And yeah, I was being a jerk but it's never bothered her before. I don't even know why she'd care what I think; I'm just a cop."

Droosha squeezed Boxter's arm. "Look, I know it's hard for you to work with her. But maybe she finds it hard too. Maybe she's actually trying to do a good job."

Boxter smiled faintly. "She does really want that car of hers back. I probably could be a bit less of a jerk."

"Try it. She might listen to you if she doesn't feel like you're going to snap at her. Might get her out of your hair a little quicker too."

* * *

Guy was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring glumly at the floor when Kelly walked into his room.

"Okay, so what did you do?" his sister demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me?!"

"Come on, you're supposed to be trying to get the Shehicle back, not making Dad's life hell."

Seriously? Was everyone that dead set on the idea he was a complete flop? "How come you automatically assume I'm the one causing the problem?"

"Well, how could…"

"I tried to do what he told me; I tried to do the cop thing! But no, that's not good enough for him, he has to act like a jerk and blame everything on me!"

Kelly frowned, then came across the room and slid up next to him on the edge of his bed. "What happened?"

"We ran into Mocktopus, it didn't go so well and apparently that's my fault." Guy risked a glance at his sister. "Dad thinks I'd make a lousy cop."

"How do you know…"

"Because he said so!"

"Well, it's not you, you know," said Kelly. "He just thinks SheZow'd make a lousy cop."

"It's the same thing," Guy sighed. "He just doesn't know it. Maybe I should just tell him who SheZow is, that'd show him…"

"Guy! You can't tell him!"

"I know, I'm not serious…" But it would show him. For a moment, Guy let himself imagine the look on his father's face when he found out his son was SheZow. He'd freak. And then he'd have to apologise for being such a jerk.

Or would he? Would his father's opinion of SheZow change in the slightest if he found out who she was? Maybe he'd still think SheZow was a failure. Maybe he'd be even more disappointed in her.

"Look, it can't be that bad. Just go and have another go tomorrow. You'll do fine, little brother. Promise."

"It is that bad, Kelly," Guy groaned. He put his head in his hands. "Tomorrow is going to be lousy."

* * *

Guy made his way down to the police station. What was his father going to find to gripe about today? A part of him had thought working with his father might be fun, even if he was forced to do things the 'right' way. How wrong he'd been.

Well, he could be a jerk if he wanted to. This time Guy was ready. He wasn't going to let his father upset him again.

When Guy eventually arrived, as SheZow, at the Megadale Police Station, he found his father waiting for him at his cop car, as he had the previous day. This time Boxter had two cups of coffee with him. It looked as if his Dad was looking forward to the day as much as he was.

"Well, I'm here," Guy huffed. This time he remembered to get his SheZow voice right from the start. "I'll try not to work up too much of a damage bill today."

Boxter smiled at him sheepishly. "Here…" He passed him one of the coffee cups.

Guy almost dropped it. He'd kind of been expecting an insult. "What's this…?"

"A peace offering."

"It looks more like coffee…"

Boxter just rolled his eyes, then let out a sigh. "Look, I know I was a bit of jerk yesterday. I'm… I'm sorry. I know you're actually trying – even if it is just to get your car back. So, maybe if we stop fighting so much, we might both be able to get out of each other's hair a little quicker, yeah?"

Guy stared at the cup, chewing his lip.

"You didn't actually do that bad of a job, but it would help if you'd listen."

Guy smiled faintly. "Yeah, I guess."

"So, are we good?" Boxter asked. If Guy wasn't mistaken, he sounded like he hoped for a positive reply.

"Yeah, we're good." Guy glanced at his coffee again. "But I'm not sure I should drink this…"

"Oh?"

"No, I just mean, like, I can run at over 200 miles an hour, do you really want to give me caffeine?"

Boxter winced. "You're right. Tell you what; I'll buy you lunch instead. Deal?"

"Deal," Guy grinned. Things were starting to look up.

Boxter took the coffee off of him, then looked about as he tried to decide what he was going to do with it. A bark sounded from inside one of the nearby cop cars.

"Oh, hello, Sandy," said Boxter. He walked up to the passenger window and scratched the dog's head. Then he put the coffee cup inside and removed its plastic top.

Sandy immediately stuck her face into the cup and started lapping.

Boxter returned to their vehicle. "Well, ready to catch some villains?"

"Without breaking anything?" Guy grinned.

"Preferably."

"Can I drive, today?"

"Don't push it."

They both got into the car. But before they'd even pulled out of the lot, Sheila popped up from SheZow's ring. "Shemergency, Shemergency. Coldfinger is stealing equipment from Megadale University."

"Seriously, what frequency is that thing running on?" said Boxter, still jumping a little, though this time he knew what it was. Once again the police scanners had yet to say peep on the crime in progress.

"Somewhere between smoking hot and sizzling she-megahertz, sweetheart," Sheila said. "So, do you believe me? Or are you going to wait for that arcane scanner of yours to confirm?"

Boxter eyed Sheila warily. "I can drive in that direction…"

"No wonder you guys never get anywhere in time," Guy sighed.

That was all it took to kick his father into gear. Boxter's eyes narrowed. "I'll get us there on time." He slammed a foot down on the gas and the police vehicle tore away with a screech of tyres.


	5. Chapter 5

Barely moments before they arrived on the Megadale University campus, police despatch caught up with the situation and called for all available units. But Boxter and SheZow were still first on the scene.

They pulled into the front car park of the university with a screech of tyres. Most of the students were outside, either excited because they couldn't attend classes, or panicking because they couldn't attend classes. The building itself, a multistorey affair set in a small and browning attempt at campus gardens, was partially encased in ice.

"Coldfinger," Guy muttered. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the supervillain right now. It was he who he'd been fighting when Boxter had arrested him. If Coldfinger hadn't been mucking around with wind tunnels, for who knew what reason, he wouldn't be in this mess. What was he up to now?

"Coldfinger, huh?" said Boxter. He rolled his eyes. "That has got to be a euphemism."

Guy frowned. "A what now?"

Boxter looked at him uncomfortably. "If you don't get it, I'm not explaining it."

They exited the vehicle and made their way to the building.

"Hey, it's SheZow!" One of the students yelled. "SheZow, can I have your autograph? You're awesome!"

Guy turned to find the origin of the voice but Boxter grabbed him by the arm. "Oh no, missy. We've got a job to do."

"Fine…"

"So can anybody here tell me what happened?" Boxter said in a raised voice.

"Coldfinger froze our labs, genius," a boy called out. "I mean, the ice is all over the building…"

"Yeah, got that," Boxter growled. "How long ago? Is he still in there?"

"What kind of degree do you need to direct traffic and put people in handcuffs anyway?"

Boxter turned around but it was impossible to locate who was saying what in the throng of young adults.

"He can put me in handcuffs any day," said a female student.

"Bunch of smartasses," Boxter muttered under his breath. He'd started to turn a little pink.

"Alright!" said Guy, flying up so he could see over everyone's heads. No way was he going to let these nerds make fun of his Dad. "I've got a score to settle with Coldfinger and I couldn't do it alone. So I've got Megadale's best cop along to help me. So which of you geeks is going to help us take him down?"

Nobody seemed particularly offended by SheZow calling them a geek.

"He broke into the science lab, top floor," a girl called out. "The one with all the liquid nitrogen. Told everyone to get out. Froze the hamster."

"You won't be able to get up the stairs, they're frozen over," said a boy, who sounded suspiciously like the one who'd made the handcuffs crack. "There's an old fire escape out the back; leads right to the top floor. We use it when we want to sneak in hash…"

"Shut up!" The boy's friend standing next to him punched him in the shoulder.

"… browns! Hash browns! For breakfast, with toast…"

His friend punched him again.

"Ow! So can I get an autograph for helping, SheZow?"

"How about I don't arrest you for pushing unhealthy breakfast products on campus, huh?" said Boxter, folding his arms.

"Deal," said the boy meekly.

"Come on, SheZow." They made their way around the back of the building. "You didn't have to do that, you know," Boxter said when they were out of earshot of the students.

"Do what?"

"Stand up for me."

"Do people usually treat you like that?" Guy asked. "I mean, I know you can't save Megadale as awesomely and looking as good as I do, but you still do an alright job."

"Sometimes," Boxter gave a half-hearted shrug. "Some people just seem to think you became a cop because you couldn't be anything else. Or you just want to be a jerk and give people tickets. Sometimes I think a little bit of recognition, you know, just once in a while, would be nice. But that's probably not going to happen. So, I guess you'd better get used to it, huh? I hope you weren't expecting a ton of media attention like you're used to; you're one of us now…" He trailed off. "What are you grinning about?"

His father couldn't possibly imagine how much it meant to hear him refer to SheZow as 'one of us'. "Nothing."

"There's the fire escape." A twisting, dilapidated ladder wound its way up the building's side. "Ladies first…"

"Oh no," Guy held up his hands. "I'm wearing a skirt."

"Right." Boxter shook his head. He started making his way up the ladder.

Guy waited for a moment, then just shrugged and flew up and in through the topmost window ahead of his father. Inside, the walls were covered with ice and sparkling icicles hung down from the ceiling. Coldfinger had really gone to town on the place.

The sound of snickering came from down the hallway. Guy followed the sound and peeped cautiously into the room he deemed to hold the likely culprit. Coldfinger was there. Around him were a half dozen silver canisters that steamed and clouded up the room.

"Oh, this is going to be so good! I've outdone myself! Heheheheh! Megadale, you are so in for it!"

"Finally decided to get yourself an education, Coldfinger?" Guy stepped into the room. "I didn't realise Megadale University had lowered its standards."

"Woah! SheZow?" Coldfinger jumped. "I thought you'd gone and got yourself arrested?"

"She did," Boxter pushed his way into the room, breathing heavily. "She's working with us now."

"Hah! She's part of the Megadale Police Department?" Coldfinger hugged himself around the middle and began to laugh. "Oh that's, that's… oh, you're serious? How's that working out? Did you guy's lower your standards, or did SheZow? Hah!"

"She doesn't listen and she keeps running off on her partner," said Boxter. "So not great so far."

"Sorry…" Guy winced. "So, what are you up to now Coldfinger?"

"I'm glad you asked, SheZow! Check this out…" Coldfinger swept his arm around him and the steam that seeped from the silver canisters surrounding him swirled under his control, clearing and dropping down to the floor so the whole room was covered in a foot deep fog. But the air above was now clear.

Behind Coldfinger cowered three students and an older man who must have been a lecturer.

"Hey!" Boxter's hands tensed into fists and he took a step forward.

"Oh no, Mr Policeman, you stay right there, or my little test subjects get frozen solid."

"It's okay, Officer Hamdon" said Guy. "It won't hurt them, they'll just be really, really cold…"

"Hah, that's where your wrong, SheCow," said Coldfinger. "Because I've made a little discovery and I'm thinking about sharing it with the whole city. Gotta test it out first though, don't I? That's what you guys do, right?" he said, addressing the students behind him. "Test your little theories out first?"

"Well, technically one shouldn't move onto human trials until…" stuttered the lecturer.

"Really, that sounds a little self-serving to me… shut up!" Coldfinger barked.

"Don't make him angry; he's serious," said one of the girls, shivering either from fear or the cold. "He already smashed the hamster."

"Don't worry, sweetheart," said Boxter. "We'll get you out of this."

"See, this is liquid nitrogen," Coldfinger explained, gesturing to the canisters surrounding him. "I like it. It's cold. Like me. Positively sub-zero. Colder than anything I can create, in fact."

"You've already got freeze powers, genius," Guy snapped. "Why do you need to mess around with liquid nitrogen?"

"Because every time I freeze things you go and un-freeze it! It's not fair. You're a menace to supervillains SheZow!"

"Thanks."

"So I decided to try and make my powers stronger. And guess what I figured out?"

"That you're a loser?"

Coldfinger scowled. "No! This!" He flung out a hand and liquid spun out of one of the canisters. Coldfinger hurled it like a missile across the room.

Guy and Boxter both dropped to the floor. The attack hit right behind them, ploughing straight into the electronic white board on the wall. The board froze solid in an instant, quivered on the wall, and then fell to the ground and shattered into a million tiny shards.

"Can you take him down?" Boxter whispered harshly.

"Of course."

"Then hurry up and do it. No funny business like last time. I'll get the civilians out."

"Did you see that!?" Coldfinger cackled.

"Hard not to!" said Guy. He got back to his feet and moved a little to the right, trying to get Coldfinger to keep his attention on him. It might give his father enough space to sneak around behind him.

"I take my freeze powers, combine them with liquid nitrogen, and that happens! If I had enough liquid nitrogen I could freeze all of Megadale, permanently! It would be frozen solid for ever, nothing you could do would un-freeze it, SheCow! If you tried you'd shatter all its precious inhabitants into tiny little icy pieces!"

"That's insane, ice-face," said Guy.

He'd successfully got Coldfinger's attention. Now he just had to keep it. Boxter had reached the students and had started to move them towards the door to the hallway.

"Are you kidding? It's brilliant!"

"Yeah, but what have you got there like ten litres of liquid nitrogen? You just used a whole chunk freezing a whiteboard. You'll hardly be able to freeze all of Megadale. That's what, like fifth grade maths? Really don't think you should be going for the college degree, doofus."

Coldfinger growled. "I'm not going to freeze Megadale with this you idiot. I'm just trialling my new powers!"

"On the whiteboard?"

"No, them!" Coldfinger turned back to his hostages. "Hey!"

Boxter was almost all the way to the door. "Go," he said, pushing the first student out. Then he stepped forward and blocked the other three hostages from Coldfinger. "I said go!" her barked when they wouldn't move.

"But he'll freeze us!" said the girl.

"No, he'll have to freeze me," said Boxter, facing Coldfinger and making himself as big as he possibly could. But despite the bravado his tensed fists were shaking at his sides.

They slipped out the door like they were told, but that hardly seemed to faze Coldfinger. "Eh, a freeze is a freeze," he shrugged. Then he snatched up the nitrogen from one of the other canisters and hurled it at Boxter.

"No!" Guy zipped across the room and knocked his father to the ground. The liquid nitrogen splattered across the wall. Combined with Coldfinger's powers it froze the whole wall solid in a second. The wall creaked and crackled ominously, but didn't come down. "What the hell are you doing, Da… Officer Hamdon?!"

"My job! Get off of me."

"Stop moving!" said Coldfinger. "I think I'll try another little test. Wonder how well superheros freeze? We'll have a she-sicle and a cop-sicle!" He cackled at his own joke.

It was the liquid nitrogen. If Coldfinger didn't have that, SheZow would only have to contend with his usual powers.

"Boomerang brush!" Guy reached into his beautility belt and hurled the weapon across the room. Coldfinger had set up the canisters in a nice, neat semicircle, and the brush hit each in turn, knocking them to the ground. Free of the insulated containers the nitrogen spilled out across the room in a puddle.

"Hey!" said Coldfinger as the liquid swirled around his boots.

"SheZow…" said Boxter. He pressed back against the wall as the puddle spread towards them. But in the air the nitrogen quickly turned to steam before it reached them.

"Not fair…"

Guy took to the air and tackled Coldfinger, knocking him clean out the window in a shower of splintering glass. They shot across the campus, over the heads of the students and smashed into the roadway.

"Damn it, SheZow!" Coldfinger dragged himself to his feet. "Why can't you let me have any fun?!" He worked up an icy blast, filled with shards of ice, and hurled it at SheZow.

Guy let out a sonic shriek. The ice crystals shattered to powder and blew back in Coldfinger's face.

"Gah!" Coldfinger squinted as the fine powder got into his eyes, blinding him. He slapped at the air uselessly.

"Sorry, Coldfinger. Forecast for the immediate future is sunny skies!" Guy darted in behind him and grabbed him by the back of the collar.

"Wait, wadda you doing, SheCow? Let me gooooo…"

"Okie dokie," Guy spun around in a blur and once he was going as fast as he could, he released Coldfinger.

Coldfinger shrieked as he rocketed up into the sky and towards the horizon.

"Well, we won't be seeing him for a while," said Guy, slapping his hands in front of himself as if he were knocking off dust.

A cheer went up from the students, in accompaniment to a hundred digitally reproduced variations of a camera click.

"SheZow…" A young man of about nineteen, with hair with too much gel in it and hipster glasses, ran up puffing to him. "I'm a journalist. Well, I'm still studying, but what you did today, I can make you an internet sensation, I mean, I know you kind of are already… But I mean you saved all those people, and the university, and I really, really need to break into the market, so…"

"You want a story?" Guy grinned.

"That would be nice."

"How about how SheZow is working with the Megadale Police Department and doing a bang up job?"

"You're working with the cops?"

"Yup. What better way to make Megadale a safer place?"

His father stepped out of the university's front entrance with Coldfinger's hostages. He frowned at the rowdy crowd of students blocking up the car park. Really, why did he need to be so uptight? They were just excited. Well, maybe SheZow could give him something to smile about.

"And I'm working with Megadale's best cop too. Officer Hamdon. He just saved all those kids whilst I took care of Coldfinger."

"Really?"

"Here, I'll show you." Guy grabbed the young journalist by the collar and hoisted him up into the air, then flew to land down on the university steps next to Boxter. There really wasn't any other way to get over the other students.

"There you are. Showing off again, SheZow?" Boxter growled.

The short flight seemed to have done nothing to dull the young journalist's enthusiasm. "Hi, Officer Hamdon," he said as he pulled out his phone. "I'm the Webcast Wonder, and I just wanted to…"

"Who?"

"Well, my name's Jake, but that's not exactly attention grabbing is it? SheZow tells me you were amazing in there. I thought you might like to tell me a bit about it…"

"Yeah, okay…" said Boxter, shifting his weight. He still didn't seem to get it.

"Jake wants to make us an internet sensation, Officer Hamdon," Guy explained. "Megadale's first cop and superhero team. What do you think?"

Boxter's mood immediately brightened. "Really?"

This excited more than just his father. "Ooo!" said the girl who had been held hostage by Coldfinger. "I got footage! On my phone!"

"Me too!" The other two students whipped out their phones.

"Well, don't look at me," the older lecturer grumbled. "I still have a dumb phone. Bloody touch screens…"

In a few seconds the students around them were again in an uproar, but this time Boxter didn't seem to mind.

* * *

 **A/n:** Honestly, is there anywhere else that uses liquid nitrogen other than universities? I have no idea. XD

I hope Coldfinger is in character. He's rather erratic and weird. I'm also trying to make him at least semi-competent. Because I need a semi-competent villain in this. Things are about to get complicated... ;D


	6. Chapter 6

Unlike his wife, Boxter had never really been into all that karma stuff. But after the last couple of days he was starting to think that maybe the universe had just made some sort of massive karma banking error, which it was now making up for. The media buzz surrounding him and SheZow was extraordinary. Not only was it all over the internet, thanks to that college kid. But, not to be outdone, mainstream media had gotten in on the action too.

Nearly every second callout they attended was filmed by some kid with a phone, somehow finding its way back to the 'Webcast Wonder' and onto YouTube. Brian Smirk showed up on occasion too. But he and the rest of the local television media seemed to be plagued by the same brand of slow communication that affected Megadale Police Department's despatch. It was the internet that was finally responsible for the long overdue recognition Boxter had always craved.

The Pushy Pirate Posse featured in a video of Boxter and SheZow chasing them out of a pet store where they had attempted to steal the entire stock of talking parrots. Unfortunately SheZow had accidentally sent then spinning into the bay with a sonic shriek, and they'd swum off. So no arrests. But it had made a great video.

Mocktopus seemed to have given up on fish and got his tentacles into a taco stand. SheZow pulled herself in this time and they were able to arrest him. Arrest him! Not just rough him up, or destroy half the street in the process, but actually arrest him. That too had ended up on the Webcast Wonder's YouTube, though Boxter was a little miffed they'd cut out his short speech on the necessity of handcuffs, even if your arrestee had slippery tentacles that didn't exactly stay in the handcuffs.

And then of course there was the one with them trumping Coldfinger, which so far had the most hits. Boxter had made sure Droosha had at least seen that one.

Even the jobs Boxter himself considered mundane had ended up in a short little feature; inclusive of speed traps, directing traffic, and helping an old lady cross the street.

The icing on the cake had been when they'd stopped a car of teenagers doing a tad over the speed limit and instead of getting the usual muttered rude comments the teenagers got all excited and: 'Oh, look, it's SheZow!' And then one of them had added, 'and Officer Hamdon!'

He'd still, to their disappointment, given them a ticket. He still had a job to do.

"What are those?"

"Aviators!" In the passenger seat, SheZow grinned back at him from behind a pair of oversized sunglasses. Seemed she'd somehow found the time to pick them up. Probably during their last donut break.

"Yeah, why?"

"I just texted Jake. He wants to film something with us down at the pier. There's…"

"We can't just go around filming things, SheZow," Boxter sighed. "We're working."

SheZow folded her arms. "I thought you were the one who wanted a little recognition, Officer Hamdon?" she said with a smirk. "Don't you like all the attention?"

"I never said that," Boxter replied, trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile.

SheZow dug in her little shopping bag and pulled out another pair of sunglasses. "I've got you aviators too…" she said, waving them around tantalisingly.

"Seriously, you've got the whole superhero outfit thing going. Why do you need aviators?"

"They're a cop thing right?"

Boxter snorted. "What like donuts?"

"Yeah."

Boxter rolled his eyes. "Here, give me those." He took the sunglasses off her and slipped them on, then flipped down his sunshade so he could see the little mirror on the back of it.

"Looks cool, huh?"

Boxter quickly flipped back up the sunshade. What wasn't cool was looking like he was taking too long preening himself in the mirror. "Maybe."

"So we can go down to the pier and look cool and…"

The radio squawked to life. "Unit 252 come in. Over."

"Pier will have to wait," said Boxter. "That's us." He picked up the handset. "This is unit 252, what's up?"

"Could you report to the station, Officer Hamdon? Detective Johansson says she wants to see you in her office."

"OOooo…" said SheZow. "Someone's in trouble…"

Boxter frowned at her. "It's not the principal's office, ya know." He shook his head before depressing the talk button again. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Over and out."

* * *

Boxter made SheZow wait out in the main office. He hoped she wouldn't get bored and find something to break. Despite what he'd told SheZow in the car he'd started to worry that maybe Detective Johansson had taken issue with something he'd done over the last couple of days. He was supposed to be teaching SheZow to behave better. Boxter supposed he had succeeded, to some extent. She certainly had done less damage to Megadale than she would have if she'd been running around by herself, with her supercar, fighting villains as per normal. But something told him being posted all over the internet and having random media following them around wasn't part of the plan.

"So, look, I know things have gotten a little out of hand with that webcast kid…" He began, before he'd even had a chance to sit down.

Detective Johansson frowned at him over her desk, then waved a hand dismissively. "Nonsense. I know you'll keep things under control. No, in fact what's been going on has got me thinking - have a seat."

Boxter sat down in the chair opposite Johansson's desk. Okay, so she wasn't angry with him over anything SheZow had done. She'd been thinking, something quite normal for her. Something would usually get Johansson thinking and she would almost completely change her plan of attack when it did. It had a tendency to annoy some of the other officers, but she always got results in the end.

If he was lucky maybe she'd decided they'd reformed SheZow as much as they could and it was time to return her supercar and give up on the whole thing. Not that Boxter minded the attention he was currently getting. Suddenly he found himself hoping this was not the case. Funny.

"So, how much has SheZow said to you with regards to all this attention you've been getting?" Johansson asked.

Boxter thought for a moment and then shrugged. "Well, she seems to enjoy it. Although, I would've thought she'd be used to it."

"How do you feel about it?"

Boxter smiled at her. "You know how I feel about getting a bit of recognition for all the things we do for this city."

Johansson smiled back. "If you wanted recognition, maybe you shouldn't have become a cop."

"Yeah, maybe."

"And what about being a cop? How does she feel about that?"

Boxter paused for a moment. "Yeah, that's the surprising part. She really seems to like it. And it's like… I don't know, like she really wants to do a good job. And maybe even like she wants me to think she's doing a good job."

"Really?" said Johansson, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm not trying to big note myself or anything, it's just…" He wasn't going to tell her about him making SheZow cry. "That's just honestly the impression I get. It's weird." And it was. Why the hell did SheZow care what he thought? There had to be some reason and Boxter felt like if he could work out what it was everything would make sense. He was getting on with SheZow alright now, but sometimes her behaviour still confused him.

Johansson nodded, almost to herself. "Good. That'll work out really well actually…"

"Sorry, what'll work out well?" Boxter said, not sure if he'd missed something while he'd been thinking. Only he was sure he hadn't. He had that uncomfortable feeling in his gut again, the same he'd had right before Johansson had first asked him to look after SheZow.

"Do you think she'd be receptive to your suggestions? That she'll listen to you? And are you sure she's really liking the cop thing?"

Three questions on top of each other and Boxter still wasn't sure what she was asking of him. So he answered none of them. "Detective, what do you want me to do?"

"I've been thinking," said Johansson, "that trying to reform SheZow is all well and good. Assuming it works of course. I mean, she's a superhero. What's stopping her just flying into the impound and retrieving her supercar?"

Boxter opened his mouth to reply, then just frowned. He hadn't thought of that.

"Maybe she's just trying out the cop thing. Maybe she does like it. But maybe she'll get bored and take off, get back her car, and we'll have lost her again."

"Hey, I didn't ask you to put her with me," Boxter cut in. "She should be in jail, or at least doing community service. And paying a hell of a lot of bills."

"Perhaps. But pretty hard to enforce when you don't have someone's real name, or a street address."

"I thought you already tried to get that out of her?"

"I did. You haven't." Johansson just stared at him.

Boxter shifted in his chair. She wasn't going to stop staring until he said something. "Okay, let me get this straight; you want me to ask her to tell me her true identity?"

"If you can. Convince her it's in her best interests to reveal it."

"Yeah," Boxter laughed nervously, "why would she do that?"

"You like all the recognition, right?"

"Yeah…"

"That you get as Officer Boxter Hamdon, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, that's different to what SheZow gets. If she really wants to be a cop, she can't be one as 'SheZow'. But if she's - whoever she is - that'll change everything. Convince her its different, that'll she'll be more famous, that you're more of a hero without a mask. Tell her she can't be a real cop unless she tells us who she is. I don't care how you do it. But you've been working with her for an entire week. I'm sure you'll be able to think of something."

Boxter leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. He may not have been as quick witted as Detective Johansson, and he couldn't possibly follow the logic she had used to come up with this idea. But he could figure out what the end result was; he wasn't stupid.

"See, I thought you promised SheZow you'd drop all charges. So if you plan on dropping those charges, why do you need to know her real name?"

Johansson smiled at him. Yeah, that's right. Just because he was only an officer didn't mean he'd dumbly do what she wanted without at least letting her know he knew what she was up to. "Back up plan. If reforming her works, fine. We'll have a reformed superhero. But if she turns against us, we need something to use against her. Something like the threat of charges and the ability to pin them on someone who actually legally exists."

"Despite making a deal with her to drop those charges!" Boxter growled.

"We never signed anything," Johansson said curtly.

Boxter shook his head. "Oh yeah, well as long as the paperwork's in order…"

"Come on, Officer Hamdon. You're the one who said she should be in jail."

"So we should've put her in jail, all above board, in the first place! Not make promises and then go back on them!"

"Hamdon, we're not breaking any rules here. It's just a bit of insurance. You know what she's like; you know we need it. Hell, even if you can get her to tell just you - I don't care."

"I'm not comfortable with this…"

"Maybe not. But it is your job to do this. If it doesn't work? Fine. We'll try something else."

Boxter wasn't sure if she was making this all up as she went along, or if she had some grand scheme in mind and he was just a pawn in her plans. Would he be completely betraying SheZow if he did what Johansson said? Or was it really just a bit of insurance?

"Well?"

In the end, it didn't really matter. Because Johansson outranked him. And she was right. It was his job. So he had to do it. "Alright, I'll try," he said, standing to his feet. "But I'm not happy about it. Make sure you put that in your paperwork."

Without waiting for a reply Boxter stomped out of her office. Things had been going so well too. Now karma was short-changing him again.

* * *

Luckily it was near the end of the day and Boxter didn't have to pursue his new orders right away. Not beyond half-heartedly offering to drop SheZow off home. Which she refused. She wasn't stupid.

Boxter didn't think anything would lift his mood, but when he arrived back home he found Jake the Webcast Wonder in his front yard chatting up Droosha.

"Do I need to press stalking charges or something?" he grumbled. "Seriously, how do you keep knowing where to find me?"

"Internet and my powers of deduction!" Jake grinned.

"Hi, sweetie," Droosha smiled at him. Well, Jake couldn't be bugging her that much. Boxter felt some of his initial annoyance drain off. "Jake says he wants to do some background stuff on you." Then she frowned at him. "When did you start wearing aviators?"

Well, the verdict was in. Boxter took off the sunglasses and slipped them into his pocket. Not as cool as he'd thought. "I did just get home…"

"Come on," said Jake. "It'll take ten minutes, promise. I'm trying really hard not to be one of those annoying journalists that butts into everyone's privacy - too much. Plus you're a cop, so you could probably make my life hell if I did."

"Yeah, probably," Boxter smiled faintly.

"Come on, honey," said Droosha. "Jake's a sweetheart. He says he wants me in it, you know like the woman beside the cop that tamed SheZow."

"She's hardly tame."

"Come on, Officer Hamdon!" Jake begged.

Boxter was only pretending to be put out. He was still grumpy from his talk with Johansson. But anything that added to the attention he was getting made him feel better. It really was good to get a bit of recognition for once. No wonder SheZow loved this stuff. "Alright, fine. Ten minutes. That's all."

"Yes!" said Jake, practically jumping up and down with joy. He whipped out his phone. "Okay, we'll do it right out here. Right now. I'll be quick, promise!"

* * *

Coldfinger didn't know why he kept watching these things. But he couldn't seem to stop.

"Stupid SheCow!" Coldfinger yelled, pegging a slushy at his computer screen. "Urgh next."

He was sprawled across his bed, keyboard in his lap, with his big computer screen propped up at the bottom of his bed. He'd been trying work out his next moves in his plan to permanently freeze Megadale. He knew where he could get the right equipment now, but his thoughts kept coming back to SheZow. SheZow had foiled him back at the university. As had that cop. If he pursued his plans now, they'd probably just stop him. He might never get another chance once they figured out what he was doing.

So instead here he was on the Webcast Wonder's Youtube page, subjecting himself to video after video of Megadale's newest star cop duo, with the vague hope of discovering some weakness. Instead he just found himself frustrated and disillusioned. The only real evil he found himself capable of doing was trolling the comments.

"I don't want to see stupid villains getting their butts kicked!" he shouted at the computer. Ignoring in this assessment that the video of him getting trumped at the university still had the most hits. "Next!"

That stupid cop was outside of his house, prattling on about his family or something. Seriously, how was this getting any hits? Now he was dragging his daughter into the frame.

"Daaadd…" she protested. Then muttered something about him and her brother being too much alike.

Coldfinger leaned forward. "Seriously, is that that little brat that's president of the SheZow fan club?! ARGH, your whole family is horrible!" Coldfinger pulled his keyboard towards himself, intending to leave a nasty comment with words to that effect.

"You're a bunch of losers. Loosers! I don't care about your family…" Then Coldfinger paused. He stared at his screen, keyboard forgotten. Then he broke into a grin and startle to cackle loudly.


	7. Chapter 7

Guy hated to admit it but he was having the time of his life. Sure, it was a little bit annoying having to do everything the 'right' way. But he was doing it with his Dad and that was kind of fun. And his Dad was far less grumpy about everything now that he was getting the attention he felt he deserved.

Still, there were downsides. Like trying to find somewhere to stop for a donut break where they weren't going to get accosted by some excitable kids who wanted an autograph. Luckily the cop car was slightly less noticeable than the Shehicle, except to those fans who had been smart enough to take note of its plates.

It was lunchtime and they'd managed to find a spot down near the foreshore where there weren't too many people. A box of donuts lay open on their vehicle's roof and Boxter had a coffee. He seemed to thrive on the stuff. Guy still wasn't game to try any, especially as SheZow.

"So, you know when I'm going to get back my Shehicle?" Guy asked.

Boxter was staring out to sea. "Sorry, what?"

"My Shehicle. You know, pink supercar, does zero to sixty in well under four seconds, unlike this…" Guy kicked the police vehicle's front tyre. It let out a chirp as the whole front of the vehicle skittered about an inch across the road surface.

"Hey, careful!" Boxter took his weight off the bonnet and steadied the box of donuts with one hand.

"Whoops," Guy winced. "Super strength…"

Boxter gave him a half-hearted glare. "Actually, that was sort of something I wanted to talk to you about."

"The Shehicle?"

"Um," Boxter fiddled with his coffee cup. "Yeah. Getting it back, sort of. I was talking to Detective Johansson…"

"That's what that was about." So he was doing things right!

"Yeah. Sort of. I mean, you're doing a pretty good job as a cop. And she was thinking that maybe she could give you back your vehicle, but because you're doing such a good job as a cop…" He was fumbling with the coffee cup, as well as his words. Seriously, was it still that hard for him to compliment SheZow? Guy thought they'd worked that all out.

"She was thinking," his father continued, "that you could possibly stay on as a cop…"

"What?" Guy baulked for a moment. Stay on as a cop? Well, he was having fun. Would that even work with the SheZow thing? "I mean, you'd probably have to give me a pink uniform…"

"Huh?"

"My powers won't work without pink. But I wouldn't mind if I had to wear pants."

Boxter was frowning at him.

"Are you serious? Because that would be sherrific. I mean, I couldn't do it full time. But it's better than us always working against each other, isn't it? And this means I'd get my car back, right?"

"I suppose so. You'd have to talk to Johansson about that. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to negotiate terms. She loves to negotiate terms," Boxter sneered. "But there is one thing she was pretty specific about."

"What's that?"

"We can't make you a cop as SheZow," he said. "We need to know your real identify."

Guy stared at his father. He wanted to know his identity? A million thoughts flooded his mind; none of them good. Did his father even want his son to be a superhero? What might he misconstrue about him running around saving Megadale as a girl? He didn't know what he was asking for. "I'm not…" he began, tugging at the bottom of his skirt. "Why would she need to know that?"

"I don't know, red tape?" Boxter shrugged. Guy risked looking up at him, but Boxter wasn't paying attention to him at all. He was staring out at sea again. "We've got rules we're supposed to follow. If you want to become a cop you need to follow them too."

"Is this some trick?"

"No!"

Guy wasn't so sure. His father had answered a little too quickly for his liking. But his father wouldn't trick him. He wouldn't trick SheZow either. He was a cop. One of the good guys.

"I'm not, I'm just… I'm just doing my job, alright?"

"I'll think about it," Guy said tentatively. It would be cool. Surely not having to avoid the cops constantly would be a good thing? It was the actually telling that was freaking him out.

"Yeah, make sure you think about it," Boxter said. He turned from his contemplation of the ocean and pegged his empty coffee cup at a nearby trash can. It bounced off the rim and sailed onto the grass. Boxter made no attempt to pick it up, though surely he considered littering a culpable offence. "Once you do you can't go back, huh?"

Guy frowned.

"Come on. Lunch time's over," Boxter retrieved the donuts and climbed into the driver's side of the car without another word.

What a weird thing to say. Wasn't he trying to convince him to reveal his identity and work with the cops? Guy let out a sigh. He needed to think about it. And Kelly and Sheila would definitely have something to say about it. Sheila had probably been listening in on the whole thing.

* * *

It was lunch time and Droosha was thinking about getting something ready for herself and Kelly, when she noticed a rather forlorn looking Maz wandering past their house. He'd been doing that for the last couple of days. He and Guy must have still been fighting. Seriously, she'd have to have a talk to Guy. Maz practically lived at their house; sometimes she wondered if he even had his own home.

"Maz!" Droosha came out into the front garden and stopped him. "Sweetie, what are you doing out here all by yourself? Guy's not with you?"

Maz smiled at her faintly. "Hi, Mrs H." He at least seemed happy for the attention. "No, he's, ah…"

"You two still fighting?"

"Um, not exactly. He's… hanging out with someone else at the moment."

"Oh, he is, is he?" Droosha hoped it wasn't anyone dodgy. Maz was such a sweetie; at least the only worry she had when her son hung out with him was that they might cause a minor traffic accident with those blasted skateboards. She'd definitely be talking to Guy when he got home. But, for now, she'd at least make sure this poor boy wasn't going to have another boring afternoon all alone.

"Hey, I was about to make lunch. Would you like to come in and have some? Kelly's here. I'm sure she wouldn't mind hanging out with you for a little bit."

Maz's face immediately brightened. "Really?" Hard for a twelve year old boy to resist food.

"Of course, there's plenty."

Inside, they sat down to lunch. At least one of her children was behaving themselves. Kelly didn't seem to mind entertaining Maz and they both ended up talking in whispers to each other across the other side of the table.

Droosha couldn't quite figure out whether there was something going on between them, or they were just discussing kids' stuff. They didn't seem to want her to hear whatever it was, so she went back into the kitchen. Which was when she heard the knock at the door.

Droosha stuck her head back in the dining room. Maz was currently making a funny face full of food and Kelly was trying to ignore him. Looked like it'd be up to her to get the door. "Coming!"

She opened it to find a funny blue man staring up at her. He was vaguely familiar, but for a moment Droosha couldn't put her finger on where she'd seen him before. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"Is this the Hamdon residence?" the man asked, in an irritatingly nasally voice.

"Yes…"

"Oh good! Because I saw your husband with SheZow on YouTube and…"

Wonderful. Now she was going to get fan boys coming to her door? Droosha hadn't really thought that the little bit of fame Boxter had fell into would do anything more than put a bit of a spring in her husband's step. "Sorry, no autographs," she said abruptly, and slammed the door in the funny little man's face.

That'd show him. Droosha started heading back to the kitchen when something hit the front door with a hollow thump. That little… She stepped back into the hallway. The front door was frozen solid. Icicles glittered on its surface and the surrounding panelling. "What in the name of…"

Then Droosha remembered who the man was. She'd seen him just days ago. When Boxter had shown her that YouTube video and she'd half pretended to watch it because he was bouncing around like a kid and he wouldn't stop unless she did. The one with the notorious villain, Coldfinger.

And then the front door shattered into a million tiny shards as Coldfinger planted a boot clean through and burst into the hallway. "Oh, I'm not after an autograph!" he cackled. "I'm after something much more important!"

Something important was immediately on Droosha's mind too. She ignored the villain standing in her front hall and dashed back into the dining room.

Kelly and Maz were both on their feet already.

"Mom," said Kelly. "What was that?"

"Out the back door. Both of you. Now!" Droosha grabbed the two kids by the shoulder and spun them towards the back of the house, giving them a good shove to get them moving.

Around them the temperature had dropped. The crackle and pop of growing ice surrounding them, and the nasally cackle of Coldfinger boomed its way through the house from the front hallway.

Kelly made it to the back door first; she reached out a hand to the door handle, then drew it back with a yelp. It was frozen solid. The windows were covered in a network of ice crystals too.

"Hang on, I've got it," said Maz. He ran, shoulder first, into the glass door and bounced back and crashed to the floor. "Ow!" Kelly helped him back to her feet.

"You're not going to get away that easily!" Coldfinger moved in behind them. "I've blocked all the exits. There's no escape!"

Droosha put herself in front of the two kids and picked up a vase. "What do you want?"

"Mom!" Kelly protested. She tried to push her way up next to her but Droosha shoved her back.

"Whatever 'important' thing you've come for, take it. But you leave my family alone!"

"You're cute," said Coldfinger.

Droosha raised the vase a little higher, but she really wasn't sure what she was going to do with it.

"Surely you can guess what I want? It isn't any stinking thing your loser family has in this house!"

"No…" But Droosha was starting to fear that she did.

"See I don't know if you're aware, but a couple days ago stupid SheCow and your nincompoop husband ruined my little game."

"Yeah, it was all over YouTube," said Maz, wincing. "Brutal…"

"Shut up!" Coldfinger snapped. "So I said to myself: 'Coldfinger, what are you gonna do to stop those morons spoiling your fun all over again? And then, lo and behold, I see you and your husband outside your stupid little house. Well, I can't do anything to SheZow and Officer Hamdon. But after the way that idiot was doting over you I can't imagine he'd be too keen to stop me if I've got myself a little insurance!"

"You want insurance?" said Droosha, fighting to keep her voice steady. "Fine. So take me. Believe me, that's more than enough to stop my husband in his tracks. But leave the kids out of this…"

"Mom!" Kelly again protested.

"Oh no," Coldfinger snickered. "Because she," he pointed at Kelly. "Is SheZow's little fan club president. Now SheZow probably doesn't have the highest opinion of her fans, but who knows, I could be wrong. You might be enough to stop SheZow coming after me as well. And you," he pointed at Maz. "You must be the son. Well, you're here, aren't you? So it'd be rude if I left you out of all the fun, wouldn't it?"

Maz's jaw dropped. "What, me? I'm not a part of this family!"

"Really?" snapped Kelly. "Now you have a problem hanging out with us? You're here often enough!"

"Your Mom invited me!"

"Shut up! I don't care, you're all coming with me!" said Coldfinger.

Droosha threw the vase and hit Coldfinger square in the nose. "Run, kids!"

"Ow!" Coldfinger shrieked and crashed to the floor.

Droosha shooed the kids back into the hall. There must be some window open, something Coldfinger had missed. Maybe she could get to the phone. It was still on the kitchen bench. "Into the kitchen!" she ordered.

There it was. Droosha snatched it up.

"Mom. Call SheZow, she's…"

But Droosha was already dialling 911. The phone rang once.

And then Coldfinger stomped into the kitchen. "Urgh! Why do mothers always have to be so much trouble?"

Droosha only had time to grab Kelly and Maz and drag them close to her.

Coldfinger raised his hands and a swirl of snow and ice surrounded them. "Don't worry, Hamdons," he cackled. "This won't be permanent. Not yet, anyway."

Coldfinger flung the icy blast at them and the whole world turned to stone.

* * *

 **A/n:** I hope you guys are having as much fun reading this as I am writing it. My biggest concern was making sure Coldfinger was threatening and competent enough. Because as much as I love SheZow sometimes the villains are a little silly. But he seems to take to kidnapping quite well.


	8. Chapter 8

Boxter drummed his fingers on the steering wheel absentmindedly. Well, he'd done it. Now it was up to SheZow whether she chose to act on his 'advice'. He still wasn't sure if he'd done the right thing. Sure, he'd done his job. But those two weren't always the same thing.

It'd been so much easier as a kid. So much easier when he could imaging being a cop was like it was on TV. Exploding cars, high speed chases, action scenes. Aviators. Running around not having to worry about the consequences of your actions. Not much different from what SheZow usually did. Maybe he should've become a superhero instead. But thinking like that was stupid. Kids' stuff.

Despite their constant contention, Boxter hoped SheZow didn't take him up on the offer. He hoped it wouldn't mess up the heroine's life if she did. She may have deserved to pay the price for some of the messes she'd caused, but she didn't deserve to be manipulated and have some threat hanging over her head.

Damn it. And that was exactly what he'd done. Or at least set up. Boxter swallowed hard and risked a look at SheZow. Should he say something? Or would Johansson have his head? Or his job. Johansson may have just been a Detective, but Boxter was sure she could manipulate the system to make his life hell if he crossed her.

Before he could come to any decision SheZow's ring let out a chirp and Sheila popped up and filled the vehicle's cabin. Boxter braced himself for some flirtatious remark, wondering as he did if you could put in a workplace harassment claim on a computer, but none was forthcoming. Instead, Sheila got straight down to business: "SheZow, we've got a problem. Officer Hamdon, you may want to hear this as well."

"Alright, spit it out," Boxter snapped.

"Are you driving?"

"Yeah."

"You may want to pull over."

"What is it, Sheila?" SheZow asked.

Sheila wasn't saying anything and Boxter had to find a parking space before she did. He pulled over roughly, his front tyre tapping the curb, and pulled up the handbrake. "You happy now, honey?" he said sarcastically. "Now tell us what's going on."

"I was monitoring 911 calls. There's been an incident. It's Coldfinger. It looks like he's taken more hostages."

"Little bastard," Boxter muttered. "Hey, wait, so this came over our systems? How come I haven't heard anything from despatch?"

"Your systems do kind of suck, what does it matter?" SheZow shrugged. "So where is he, Sheila? We'll just go and kick his butt again."

"I don't know," said Sheila. "I only know where the hostages were taken from. And I think that's the reason you haven't heard anything over the radio, Officer Hamdon. A callout went direct to Officer Wackerman and Sandy; a direct call over cell phone. Sweetie, I'm sorry, it was at your house."

Boxter didn't think he'd heard correctly. "I'm… I'm sorry, what?"

"Wait," said SheZow. "He took… you're saying he took Officer Hamdon's family?" Her voice held the slightest waver. But what the hell was it to her?

"I expect you'll get a request to return to the station," said Sheila. "It's common practice not to involve anyone too closely…"

"I know what common practice is!" Boxter barked. "But I'm not going back to the station." He pulled out into traffic with a screech of tyres, narrowly missing taking off the nose of an approaching semi. Its deep throated horn sounded two deep blasts from behind them as the driver slammed on the brakes. Boxter ignored it, punched on the sirens and stomped on the gas.

It only took five minutes to reach his house. Boxter's heart hammered in his chest the whole way. He thought he heard the crackle of the radio calling for unit 252 to respond, but he had the siren on, so he decided to pretend he couldn't hear it.

He'd been such an idiot!

"It'll be alright," SheZow said to him. "I mean, your daughter's president of my fan club, I expect she'd be able to handle herself."

Two police vehicles were in his street, lights flashing. Boxter pulled up at the curb. The house was covered in dripping, melting icicles.

"Officer Hamdon…" SheZow tried again.

Boxter ignored her and threw open his door. He was across the front garden in seconds, jogging up the steps. Their front door was gone completely. Nothing but a wad of dripping splinters left around the hinges.

Boxter drew in a breath and cautiously stepped inside. He wanted to run in and check every room as quickly as possible, but his training kept him in check. "Droosha?!"

"Anything?" SheZow was behind him. "This was Coldfinger… I'm going to strangle that little jerk."

"Guy! Kelly!"

Wackerman emerged from down inside the house. "Hamdon, what are you doing here?"

"It's my bloody house!" Boxter grabbed the other man by his upper arms. "What the hell happened? Where's my family?"

SheZow zipped past them in a rush of air, down into the rest of the house.

"I… I don't know. We've checked everything; they're not here…"

"Well, check again!"

Sandy trotted into the front hallway, cocked her head and let out a little whine.

"You, you check again too!" he ordered the police dog.

Sandy whimpered and bumped his hand with her nose.

"Boxter, I'm sorry. We don't know where they are. But that doesn't mean anything's happened. They're just not here. There wasn't anything to indicate, well, you know…"

SheZow blurred back into the front hallway and put on the brakes. "I double checked everywhere," she said. She looked a little breathless, though Boxter couldn't imagine running around a house would exhaust her superpowers. "They're definitely not here." She balled her hands into fists. "Stupid Coldfinger! I'm sorry… Officer Hamdon… I don't know how he'd have known to come here to get to me…"

What the hell was she on about? "This isn't about you!" Boxter barked. "This is my family!"

SheZow took a half step back.

Like he could even do anything to her. Boxter winced and put a hand to the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry. But this isn't your fault. It's mine. I let that silly webcast kid put footage of them on the internet… what the hell was I thinking?!"

"Hey, it's okay," SheZow put a hand on his arm. "I'm sure they're fine. I bet they're tougher than you think. We'll figure this out."

Wackerman exchanged a look with Sandy.

Sandy let out a yap.

"Sandy's right," Wackerman nodded. "We'll go back to the station, Hamdon. We'll work it out."

* * *

"Wackerman, what's he doing here?"

Megadale Police Department was in full scale crisis mode. All officers were present and Johansson had a screen set up at one end of the office. Why were they going all out just because something had happened to one of their own's family? But that was silly. Something else was going down.

"Woah, what's that?" said SheZow.

The screen Johansson had set up showed a swirling mass of cloud and snow. Somewhere on the outskirts of Megadale a very concentrated storm cell raged. A wall of swirling cloud spitting bolts of lightning and hail.

"That's Coldfinger doing that, isn't it?" said SheZow, when no one immediately replied. "Woah… you guys realise you are in way, way over your head, right?"

"We'll manage," Johansson growled. "Hamdon, you shouldn't be here."

"Hey, you sent a callout to get back to the station…"

"Half an hour ago!" Johansson shot back. She drew in her breath. "Look, Coldfinger has set himself up at one of the factories outside of town, and he's started that," she pointed to the screen. "And after Wackerman told me what your house currently looks like, I think it's highly likely your family is involved. So you shouldn't be here. You need to go home."

"I'm not going anywhere!"

"Sheila, how come you didn't show us this?" SheZow had activated her ring and the connection with her supercomputer.

"So sorry, sweetheart. I thought you had enough on your plate. And I was gathering all available information, not just the feed from the local new station and wild conjecture…"

"Hey…" Johansson frowned.

"However…" The image of Sheila fizzled and disappeared from in front of SheZow and then the giant pair of pink lips appeared on the screen at the end of the room. "Not a bad system you've got here, Detective. I see he's had a few upgrades. Very nice."

"How'd you get up there?"

"We used to date."

"Wha…?"

"Me and the police department's security systems…"

"Sheila!" said SheZow.

"Sorry, dear. But your conjecture is correct, Detective Johansson. This video just appeared on YouTube."

Sheila disappeared from the screen, to be replaced by the video she had spoken of. Boxter felt his blood run cold and his hands begin to shake. Tied to chairs in an unremarkable metal room was Droosha, Kelly, and…

"Maz?" SheZow exclaimed.

"Well, hello, Megadale!" Coldfinger appeared, face smushed right in the camera. He took a couple steps back. "I'm sure by now you've noticed the storm building outside of your stupid little city, yeah? At midnight I'm going to supercharge that storm and freeze you all. Forever!" He allowed himself a brief cackle.

"And here's a special shout out to Megadale Police Department, and especially its newest and stupidest cop star stinking duo – Officer Hamdon and SheZow! If any of you get the slightest inclination to try and stop me, I'll freeze Officer Hamdon's family solid…"

"I'm not a part of this family!" Maz shouted.

"Give it a rest…" Kelly muttered.

"Shut up!" Coldfinger barked. "Or I'll freeze you now! Jeesh, I should've bought more duct tape…" He turned back to the camera, grabbing it in one hand. "So, yeah, you try and stop me, and I'll freeze them, and then I'll shatter them into millions of irreparable little pieces. So you've got two choices: you can try and save Megadale… in which case these three are dead popsicles… and I'll STILL freeze Megadale… or you can let me have my fun and freeze the city. And I'll let these three go. It's completely up to you. Nighty night, Megadale!" The screen went blank.

Boxter couldn't contain himself a second longer. "You leave my family alone, you son of a bitch! I'll…" There was a weight on both his arms, abruptly bringing short his lunge for the screen. "I'll…" He could do nothing. Not here. "And where the hell is Guy?!" he demanded of the blank screen.

"Hamdon, calm down," said Johansson. "We've got a plan."

It was Wackerman and SheZow dragging him back, though SheZow seemed to be doing most of the work; Wackerman he'd nearly lifted clean off the floor.

Boxter slumped back, letting them both bring him up short. "Yeah, well I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not."

"It's my family!"

Johansson let out a sigh. "We're going to take all units down to the factory. We'll break in, rescue your family…"

"If you do that, he'll freeze them!" Boxter said, then he slumped back against the nearest desk and put his face in one hand.

"What, and give up the only hostages he has? He won't, Hamdon, trust me."

"How are you going to get through that storm?" SheZow asked. She still had a hand on Boxter's arm. "Even I couldn't fly through that!"

"We'll find a way when we get there," said Johansson. "You're welcome to come SheZow, I'm sure you'd find a way through if we can't."

"Um, no I can't. Do you even remember how I got arrested in the first place? Hair, remember? If I try and fly through that I'll mess up my hair and I'll lose my powers…"

"There must be a way through. We just have to find it. Why would Coldfinger take hostages if he knows it's impossible to get through the storm?"

"Um, because he's a little jerk?" said SheZow. "And we can get through. If you give me back the Shehicle. I can turn it into the SHE-C-10 and fly right through, no mussed up hair…"

"Oh no," Johansson said, shaking her head.

"Why not?!"

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

"You know, after today? Yeah, kind of. But this will work…"

"She's not going to give you back your car," Boxter said with a sigh, pushing himself back to his feet.

"Come on!" said SheZow. "This is your family!"

"Yeah, but she's still not going to give it to you; it doesn't fit in with her little plans," Boxter growled. He was tired of this. Tired of the shit.

"Hamdon…"

"You don't care what's happening to my family," he rounded on Johansson. "You could give SheZow back her car and let her solve this, but you're not going to, are ya?"

"If she doesn't want to cooperate we can solve it ourselves…"

"No, we can't! What are you going to do? Throw cop cars at that, that thing!" he gestured to the storm that now dominated the screen again. "Offer to bring it whatever it wants if it calms down a bit? Negotiate with it?" He drew in a breath. "She's not going to give you your car, SheZow. Because then she'll have no hope of finding out your identity. And then she won't be able to pin all your messes on you properly."

"Wait, what?" said SheZow. "You said that was so she could make me a cop… oh…"

"Yeah, I lied…"

SheZow balled her hands into fists. "I should've known! Seriously, you lied to me? You're all the same!"

"Oh come on, you can't pull the 'all men are the same' card on me now!" Boxter growled. He pointed a finger. "It was Johansson's idea!"

Johansson just stood next to the screen with her arms folded and didn't respond.

"Not men!" SheZow snapped. "Adults!"

"You are a teenager, aren't you? That explains volumes…" Boxter let out a tense breath. "Yeah, well I'm sorry. It was a stupid thing to tell you to do. I mean, look what it got me! I thought I wanted a bit of attention and everyone to know who I was… but look what's happened to my family! Coldfinger's going to kill them!" Boxter felt his chest tighten. "So don't tell anyone who you are, alright? It's just going to get you and your family in a whole lot of trouble."

He was probably in for it now, but he didn't care. But Johansson didn't get angry. "Hamdon," she said calmly. "Go home. We'll take care of it from here."

What the hell was he supposed to do? He could do nothing. The other cops wouldn't let him; they'd happily shut him in a cell for his own protection if he pushed any harder. Boxter shoulders slumped. He could feel tears pricking at the back of his eyes. He didn't trust himself to speak right now so he pushed his way past Wackerman and back outside. It had already grown dark.

His family was in trouble. He could do nothing. It was all his fault. And he didn't even know where Guy was. Why didn't Coldfinger have him? He at least hoped he was someplace safe, even if he was someplace he shouldn't be. Where the hell could he be? Unless… a thought struck Boxter, and he immediately pushed it down. No, he was just hoping he knew where his son was. What had just occurred to him was impossible.

* * *

"Happy now?!" Droosha growled. She was glad to find she wasn't panicking. She was too angry for that. At least she might be able to get the kids out if she wasn't panicking.

Coldfinger shut off the camera. "Oh yeah, very happy, thankyouverymuch," he grinned. "My plan is almost in place – I'll be ready to freeze Megadale permanently in just a few more hours!"

"Yippee for you," Kelly muttered.

At least the kids didn't seem overly fazed by the situation.

"Aw, don't be so grumpy," sneered Coldfinger. "You get to play a part in this too."

"How many times to I have to say," growled Maz, who almost sounded bored by this point. "I'm not a part of this family." Maybe there was something to all those violent video games. They might have desensitised the younger generation, but at least now they weren't freaking out.

"As your insurance, yes, we get it," said Droosha. "But you only need one person for that. So let the kids go."

Coldfinger stomped over so he could lean right into her face. "You keep saying that, but I get to decide…"

He didn't get much further, because that was right where Droosha wanted him. She'd already managed to work one leg out of the duct tape that held her to the chair leg.

Droosha smashed her shoe into Coldfinger's groin.

"OOOOOOOOOOW!" Coldfinger crashed to the floor.

"Way to go, Mom!" Kelly grinned. "Now what?"

"Um…" She hadn't actually thought much beyond that. Giving Coldfinger a swift kick had been too much of an end goal in itself.

"Hang on…" Maz had worked an arm loose. "I think I've got abnormally thin wrists…"

"He should've bought better duct tape…" said Droosha. She too started working on getting more limbs free.

"Argh!" Coldfinger hauled himself to his feet. "Damn you!" he screeched, his voice a notch or two higher than it usually was. Too late. Droosha dearly wished she had been wearing her hiking boots, and not her flats. "I hate mothers! They're always telling you what to do! Well, you're not going to be telling people what to do anymore, are you? You're right, I don't need three hostages. Two will do!" He grabbed Droosha by the wrist and dragged her towards him and out of the chair.

Droosha was just considering whether she could get in another kick, but she felt her wrist grow cold. Coldfinger had frozen it, binding them together. "You're coming with me!"

"No, leave her alone! What are you going to do with her?" said Kelly. She tried to get up, but Coldfinger shot out a hand and froze both her and Maz's feet to the floor.

"She's too much trouble! I'm going to freeze her now. Permanently. One less mother is a good thing, right?"

"Dude, so not cool," Maz growled. "You got a problem with mothers, take it up with your own mom!"

"Are you kidding? She'd kill me!" Coldfinger dragged Droosha towards the door of the room.

"Mom!" Kelly shouted.

"It's okay, honey! I'll be fine!"

Kelly didn't look like she believed her.

Coldfinger dragged her out of the room and onto a metal grating walkway that stretched above dozens upon dozens of tall metal vats. Fifty feet tall, at least twenty feet across, each was covered in steam that leeched from their open tops and made it impossible to see what was inside.

"What… what are those?" Droosha asked. Now her voice was starting to shake. Not in front of the kids at least. Thank the goddess.

"They're full of liquid nitrogen, my dear," said Coldfinger, dragging her to the edge of one and shoving her so she had no choice but to look over into the steaming interior.

It wasn't hot as she expected, but freezing.

"It's what's going to help me permanently freeze Megadale. And if your stupid husband and silly SheZow try and stop me, I'll use it to freeze your kiddies solid too."

"Boxter isn't going to let you freeze Megadale. I seriously doubt SheZow will either. Whatever threat you hang over their head, they'll stop you."

"Eh," Coldfinger shrugged. "Too bad you won't be around to find out."

Coldfinger built up a blast of ice and snow and flung it into Droosha's chest. The walkway slipped out from beneath her, she was over the vat of steaming nitrogen, plunging into the freezing steam. Coldfinger's cackle was the last thing she heard as her body froze over.

* * *

 **A/n:** Yup. Bad things are happening. I regret nothing! Droosha was never going to last long with Coldfinger; she's too rawrg and he's got too many issues.

Next chapter: things get even more complicated… ;)


	9. Chapter 9

"You realise this plan is shediculous, right? It's not even a proper plan!" Guy couldn't believe this.

"You're not getting your car back. End of story," said Johansson as she folded her arms. "Like I told you, you're welcome to come and help. But if you can't follow my rules, don't bother."

"Yeah, sorry. But I like doing things my own way."

Johansson shrugged. "Suit yourself. Everyone, let's move out!"

Well, they may have been slow to figure out when something was going down, but when Johansson told them to move, they did. The station cleared out quickly.

Guy just shook his head. This wasn't going to end well. If the cops even got through the storm cell, they'd still be in trouble. But this was his family. And Maz. Even if they weren't, he'd still do something about it. He was SheZow.

"Sheila, are you sure I can't go and get my car back?" he asked, activating the ring.

"You mean steal it? As a last resort, maybe," said Sheila, but she didn't sound convinced. "But it's likely to cause some side effect that would render your powers useless. You might get your car back but be completely unable to do anything to help. But I'll do some calculations; see whether I can come up with anything."

Guy sighed. "Alright. I'll think of something. Where's Dad? Maybe he can help."

"The MDPD might be right about something there, sweetheart. He's not handling it very well. Maybe you should leave him out of this."

Guy winced. "Yeah, maybe. But I have to at least check on him."

"Of course. I'll let you know if I come up with anything." Sheila disappeared from in front of him.

Guy walked out into the Megadale Police Department's car park and looked around for his father. Police vehicles were pulling out of the lot, sirens wailing, lights flashing in the gathering darkness. Two black SUVs with 'MDPD' written in white on their sides followed hot on their heels.

Boxter leaned against the bonnet of the lone remaining cop car, watching the departing vehicles with a look on his face like the last kid to be picked for sports. He was silent, arms folded tightly across his chest.

Guy's shoulders slumped. "Aw, Dad…" He cleared his throat and made his way over. "Officer Hamdon, are you alright?"

His Dad glared at him. "What do you think?" His voice had gone all husky. He swallowed. "You're not going with them?"

Guy shook his head. "You're right. Their plan stinks. I need to come up with something else."

Boxter took his weight off the car. "Then I'm coming with you."

"It might be dangerous; maybe you should go home, and…"

"Go home to what?!" Boxter spat out. "I don't know if you noticed, but my family is gone. And I have no idea where my son is." He shook his head and then stole a glance at SheZow. "Weird huh?"

"Maybe he snuck off to the movies, or something?"

"He's twelve," Boxter pulled out his phone. "He wouldn't be running around behind his father's back, doing something like that, now would he?"

"You never know," Guy winced. Wonderful. Now he'd probably have to make something up about doing something he shouldn't be. He wouldn't even be able to count on Maz for back up.

"Yeah, you never know," Boxter glanced at him again, "When I find him I'm going to ground him so bad he won't know what hit him. And take away his skateboard…"

"Not the… I mean, you don't need to do that!" said Guy. He shut his mouth as his father glared daggers at him. He had to fight the urge to physically clap his hands over his mouth. Had he said that in the right voice? Maybe he'd just said it a little too fast.

"See, I was wondering why you were worrying so much what I thought about you," Boxter was fiddling with his phone again. He was shaking, his fingers fumbling to find the right buttons. "You're SheZow, why would you care about that? Or about my family…"

"It's called empathy, Officer Hamdon," Guy began. But then he realised what his father was doing. Guy scrambled in his pocket for his own phone, but he couldn't get to it before it let out an all too loud chirp.

Both stared at each other across empty parking lot for a long moment, Guy's ringtone tinkling on in the still air. Guy knew his father had dialled him on purpose, but Boxter was still staring at him like the last thing he'd expected to hear was his son's phone going off in SheZow's pocket.

Guy finally broke through his stupor, fumbled with his phone, and silenced it. "Er, wrong number. So should we…"

Boxter kept staring at him. Then he mashed his thumb across his keypad.

Guy's phone began to tinkle again. He dismissed the call again.

Boxter squeezed his phone again and Guy's let out a chirp. And another chirp. He wasn't even looking at the keypad, sending him random button mashing texts.

"I'm not…"

His phone chirped.

"It's just…"

It let out two more chirps.

"DAD STOP IT!" There was no doubt he'd said that in the wrong voice. Not that it mattered.

Boxter stared at him and slowly lowered his phone, his chest heaving. He jaw moved, but he couldn't seem to put together any words.

"Dad, don't be mad, I can explain," Guy began, his voice shaking.

"Damn it, Guy," Boxter finally said, his voice ragged. Then he stepped forward and snatched him up in a hug.

Guy squeezed him back. He could feel his Dad's heart pounding in his chest and he was shaking. "Dad?"

Boxter held onto him for a long moment and then finally pulled away. "I didn't know where you were."

"You're not mad at me?"

Boxter drew in a breath. "Of course I'm mad at you. Right now I'm more glad you're okay. But, come on, what's all…" He pushed a strand of Guy's now long black hair back behind his ear, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do with it. "All this?"

Guy took a step back. "It's SheZow, Dad. You know that." He knew this was going to be hardest thing he'd ever do. He'd never wanted to tell his Dad he was SheZow, now it had just happened. And how was he going to explain it? "But we've got bigger things to worry about at the moment. What about Mom and Kelly?"

"You're right," said Boxter, drawing in a breath. "We can talk about this later. Because you're going home. And I'm going to go and find your Mom and your sister."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Guy burst out. "You can't go after them by yourself!"

"Yeah, well I'm your father. So I can and I will."

"Didn't we just go over this, Officer… Dad? What the cops are doing is stupid. If you go after them you'll be being just as stupid. What are you going to do? You turn up there and they'll just lock you up in the back of a police car!"

"This isn't up for discussion, Guy!"

But Guy ploughed ahead. "We need the SHE-C-10 to get through the storm. I can't get it myself. If I steal it my powers will go on the fritz. So I need you to help me. And you can't get in by yourself, and even if you did, you'd never be able to get past Coldfinger."

"I don't care! I don't want you out there! So take off that silly outfit and go home, son!"

"No!"

"Guy…"

"What, you scared of people seeing your son running around in a skirt?"

"Yeah, maybe!"

"Well I don't even like the skirt! No one knows it's me anyway!"

"I mean, no… it's not that!" Boxter's voice cracked. Tears had sprung to his eyes. "I don't want you to get hurt! Mom and Kelly are already in trouble and that's my fault. I don't want anything to happen to you just because I couldn't stop you from doing something dangerous. I'm your Dad, Guy; that's my job! I don't… I don't want lose any of you…" He turned away and wiped a hand across his face. "Damn it."

"Dad," said Guy, feeling his guts clench. "I didn't mean to upset you…"

"Yeah, forget it," sniffed Boxter. With some effort he drew in a breath and pulled himself together. He squeezed his eyes shut briefly and pushed away the few tears that had snuck through. "Makes us even."

"Look, I've got superpowers. I'm going to be okay. But if you don't let me help, Mom and Kelly are going to be frozen. And if you go by yourself, I'll probably lose you too. How is that going to make me feel?"

Boxter looked at him for a long moment and then his shoulders slumped. "You're really set on this?"

"Ah, yeah. You forget, I've been running around breaking rules and busting up Megadale for months. If you tell me to go home, I won't. I'm just going to go and try and rescue Mom and Kelly, and Maz, anyway. It makes way more sense if we do this together."

For a moment Guy was worried he'd pushed it too far by outright telling his father he'd disobey him. But finally, Boxter just shrugged. "Alright then." He opened the car door. "Get in."

He'd opened the driver's side door. "You want me to drive?"

"I need to work on getting your Shehicle out. I can't drive like a maniac at the same time. Now get in."

* * *

The cop car wasn't that much different than the Shehicle to drive. Except that Guy had to smash his foot onto the gas to get any sort of decent response from it. It maxed out at a hundred and ten. Used to driving at much higher speeds, he was able to steal a glance at his father without jeopardising his concentration. Much.

Boxter was busy with the radio. He'd already tried contacting Johansson a half dozen times. His frustration was building and Guy was kind of relieved he'd chosen not to drive at the same time. And at least he wasn't directing any anger at him. Despite what he'd said, Guy was sure once they were out of this he'd be in a heap of trouble.

"Get off the radio, Hamdon," Johansson finally responded.

"So you are there," Boxter growled.

"We're using this channel to coordinate taking down Coldfinger. And to get your family back."

"Yeah, that's why I'm using it. You need to release the Shehicle from the impound."

"Go home!"

"You know you can't do this without SheZow. And she needs her car."

"Hamdon! I would if I could, but the paperwork is going to take too long to go through and…"

"Argh!" Boxter pegged the handset clean out the window. Its chord stretched to its full extent and then it came rocketing back in through the window and clattered across the dash. "This is bull…" He stole a glance at his son and then bit down on his words.

"So what now?" Guy asked. "I still can't steal that car."

"I've got an idea." Boxter retrieved the mistreated handset from the dash and crammed it back in its cradle. "Take this left. Impound's just ahead."

The cop car screeched around the corner, briefly losing traction, and then they were at the impound. High chain link fence surrounded the lot and a little guard house manned by a tired looking older gentleman guarded the gates. These were held together by a thick chain and a heavy padlock. But that was nothing to SheZow. Not physically anyway.

"I don't suppose I could just snap that?"

"No, that would be illegal," Boxter sighed. "So how come you can trash half of Megadale but you can't steal things?"

Guy shrugged. "I don't know, you'd have to ask Sheila."

Boxter let out a frustrated growl. "You're sure about this? You definitely can't do anything to steal that car?"

"Yeah! So what's your idea?"

Boxter huffed to himself again. He didn't sound happy. "I'm going to call Johansson again. You go and talk to the guy at the gate…"

"What, that's the idea? Go and bat my eyelashes at him? While you go and ask permission from Detective do-things-my-way?"

"No! Just talk to him! You won't have to do much. Look at him, he's bored out of his mind. Just… ask him about getting the Shehicle out."

"Ask him? That'll work?"

"No, he won't budge an inch. But I know him, he's lonely, he'll be happy for someone to talk to."

"No offense Dad, but that's worse than Johansson's plan to take down Coldfinger."

Boxter huffed again. "Come on, will you just trust me, son?"

"Okay…" Guy let his father out of the car and then drove up to the window of the guard house.

Well, his father was right about one thing, the man in the window brightened immediately. He shoved up the transparent panel and hung his head out with a grin. "Why, hello, miss. What can I do for you?"

"Um…" Guy had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. "I was coming to get my car. The Shehicle. I don't supposed I'd be able to get it out?" He gave his best smile.

"Well," said the man, "that'll depend on whether your paperwork is in order. Just let me check…" He began to dig through paper and check his computer screen. Taking his time.

Guy glanced in the rear view mirror. Where had Dad gone anyway?

"The Shehicle, that's the big growly pink one, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

A low, beefy growl cut the night air.

"Actually," said the man, frowning. "It sounds exactly like that."

Guy's eyes widened. "You have got to be kidding me…"

From within the impound the roar of an engine grew and the cars parked inside the lot were lit by the glare of headlights. Guy threw the cop car into reverse and backed up. Because those glaring headlights were roaring towards the gates with no sign of stopping.

The metal gate popped open, the chain and lock springing apart like so much twine and the Shehicle skidded out of the lot and screeched to a halt inches in front of the cop car's bumper.

Guy jumped out and ran to the passenger window. "Dad!"

"Come on, before…"

"Hamdon!" shouted the man at the gate. "You think I'm blind? I can see you, you bloody little whipper snapper! I'm reporting you!" An empty soda can sailed out of the gatehouse and bounced off the Shehicle's bonnet.

Guy ducked and slid into the car. "I thought you said he was just a nice lonely old man!"

"I said he was lonely and liked to talk to people. I never said he'd like it when you steal something from his impound."

"You never said anything about you stealing the Shehicle!"

Boxter put his foot to the floor, just as another soda can clunked off the rear fender. The Shehicle's wheels spun madly before gaining traction. "Damn, this is powerful." He wrestled with the steering wheel and finally managed to bring the car back under control. They tore off up the street. "Yeah, well, I wasn't sure if accessory to grand theft auto would mess with your powers, so I didn't say anything."

"Well, what about you?" Guy still couldn't believe what had just happened. "He saw you, Dad!"

"Yeah," Boxter winced. "Kind of was hoping he wouldn't."

"He said he'd report you; couldn't you lose your job?"

Boxter glanced at him sidelong. "Maybe. But my job's not much good to me if I lose half my family."

"And here was me thinking I'd got all the civil disobedience from Mom's side of the family…"

Boxter snorted and then actually broke into a smile. "I'm not so sure. You missed your mother's really hippy phase. Some of the stuff she used to get up to and then I nearly had to bust her for… I shouldn't tell you that story yet…" The smile dropped from his face. "I hope she's okay."

"She'll be fine, Dad. Kelly's with her…"

Boxter stared at him. "She's in on this too?"

"Um…"

"Doesn't matter, we'll talk about it later." Boxter pointedly turned his attention to the buttons on the dash. "So what do we need to do to get this thing through that storm?"

"Here…" Guy reached over and tapped a button.

"Hey, wait, don't…" The Shehicle vibrated and in a swirl of pink changed into the SHE-C-10 and shot up into the air.

"Guy…"

"Yeah?"

Boxter's eyes were wide and he gripped the steering column far too tight. "I don't know how to fly a plane!"

* * *

 **A/n:** I basically wasn't planning on making Boxter find out about Guy right up until I drafted this chapter. But yeah, Boxter's going to wonder what happened to his son… a little bit too much. And they've been spending too much time together, so… XD

I honestly feel bad for both of them. Yes, finding out is going to have repercussions and I just have to figure out how I am going to write them.


	10. Chapter 10

Guy had taken control of the SHE-C-10. They flew low over Megadale. The swirling storm was easily visible, low on the horizon on the outskirts of Megadale. Guy angled the super-jet towards the howling monster.

"You're sure this is going to get us through?" Boxter shifted uncomfortably in the co-pilot's seat. At least he'd calmed down now that he didn't actually have to fly the jet.

"Yeah…"

Boxter fixed him with a glare. "You don't sound entirely confident."

"I'm twelve, Dad. I'm going to fly it in there and see what happens."

"Guy…" Boxter growled.

Sheila popped up on screen. "Don't worry, Officer Hamdon," she said. "I've done the calculations and there's an eighty-four percent chance the SHE-C-10's hull integrity will hold."

"Please tell me this thing has parachutes."

The wind started to pick up as they approached the storm and the SHE-C-10 began to vibrate. Below them were the flashing lights of police vehicles. They were parked a few hundred feet back from the swirl and flurry of snow. Lightning crackled out of the storm's edge, illuminating the hard edges of the vehicles and muting the red and blue in a stark white light.

"I can pull around the other side of the storm," said Guy. "So they don't see us."

Boxter sighed and shook his head. "Not much point, is there? Let Johansson see us go in. Maybe it'll stop her doing something stupid like actually trying to send a cop car into that thing."

"Alright," Guy drew in a breath. "You wearing your seatbelt?" He didn't wait for his father to reply but put full power to the engines and punched into the side of the storm. They were immediately swept sideways. The SHE-C-10's hull let out a screech and the steering column vibrated in his hands. "Oh oh…" He wrestled against the steering.

"Guy!" Boxter gripped the edges of his seat.

"Make that sixty-two percent," Sheila muttered.

"Hang on, I've got it." Guy tugged the steering column. The SHE-C-10 flipped over twice before he brought it back under control. Now the plane's nose was facing the direction the wind was coming from and this seemed to steady it. Guy cautiously pulled the steering so they tilted slowly towards the storm's centre. The hull still vibrated, but he was fairly sure he had it under control.

"See, this is why twelve year olds aren't supposed to be superheros," Boxter growled.

"Hey, I'm trying to fly here!"

"Your judgement skills aren't fully developed."

"I don't need judgement skills; I have SheSP."

"That's not even a word!"

The SHE-C-10 let out a groan and that cut short any further argument. Guy fought with the steering for a second more and then the jet popped out into relatively still air. Suddenly he was fighting against nothing. The jet listed to the side, but this he was able to correct easily. He pulled it to a halt in the air.

Below them the roof of a factory, covered in a thin layer of snow, was lit by a flash of lightning from the surrounding storm cell. Steel exhaust pipes stretched up from the roof, and there was a few bits of equipment encased in metal housings up there, but still enough room for the SHE-C-10 to land. Guy brought the jet down carefully.

"Well, at least we're not dead," Boxter growled.

"Jeesh, I basically just flew through a hurricane, you know! See, this is why I didn't want to tell you I was SheZow!" And more reasons besides. Many more.

His father let out a tired sigh and dropped his gaze. That was somehow worse than being yelled at. "Come on," he finally said, undoing his seatbelt. "Let's find Mom and Kelly."

There was no reaction to their landing, not yet. Maybe Coldfinger didn't know they were there. Outside the air was cold, flurries of fine snow flitted through the air, and their breath made little clouds every time they exhaled. They found an entrance on the rooftop; a heavy metal door with edges encrusted in ice. Boxter tugged on its handle unsuccessfully then begrudgingly stepped aside to allow Guy to yank it free it from its seal. A disused concrete stairwell stretched downwards.

"We'll sneak in and try to find them," said Guy, taking a step into the stairwell. "If we find Coldfinger, let me handle him, okay? If he's got that liquid nitrogen stuff it's going to be dangerous."

His father grasped his shoulder and pulled him up short. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Yeah…"

"No, I mean it, son. I know you think this is some sort of game."

"Game!? He's got Mom and Kelly. I might be a kid, but I'm not stupid. We've got to save them."

"I know, that's not what I mean. The SheZow thing, the way you…"

Guy let out a frustrated growl, shrugged off his father's grip, and continued his way down the stairs. "Just try to keep up, Dad."

Yeah, nice one. Guy knew his father had been trying to help. But the whole SheZow thing was messing everything up. He'd always got on alright with his Dad. It hadn't been just the fear of getting in trouble for running around Megadale in a pink outfit that had kept him from telling him. Guy felt a lump rise in his throat. This was going to mess up everything between them.

At the base of the stairs Guy found a door that led into the main factory. He pushed it open cautiously.

"We don't even know where they are," Boxter whispered.

"It'll be okay," said Guy, trying to make up for snapping earlier. "I'm sure they're fine. We just need to find them without alerting Coldfinger we're here."

* * *

"This isn't really the time to check Facebook."

"Shh!" Kelly had her phone out, fumbling with the keypad. Coldfinger had moved them to a part of the factory which looked like a giant waterslide. Kelly assumed it was some sort of transport system for the liquid nitrogen. It was empty now, but she was still uncomfortable. Mostly because Coldfinger had placed them and frozen them to the metal floor of said giant waterslide.

"I'm not playing with Facebook," she hissed at Maz. "I'm trying to get a message to Guy or Sheila. To tell them where we are."

"We don't even know where we are."

"Urgh," Kelly rolled her eyes. It was hard enough trying to handle the phone with the one hand she'd managed to free. Now Maz was being an idiot. "There's, like, a fire safety diagram on the wall. Right there." Kelly tried to point and nearly dropped the phone. "It's got a 'you are here' and everything."

"Oh, I should've seen that. I can't concentrate, I'm really hungry…"

"Seriously, you ate like five sandwiches at lunch!"

"Shut up!" Maz glared at her. "I'm having a growth spurt!"

"Yeah, big problems you've got there, Maz," Kelly growled. The camera on her phone let out a click and she checked the picture. She'd got about an inch of the corner of the fire diagram. "Damn it!" She almost tossed the phone in agitation, but caught herself just in time.

"Kelly, your Mom's going to be fine. Coldfinger just got cranky; I'm sure he hasn't actually frozen her."

Kelly chewed her lip. "Yeah…" Somehow she wasn't so sure. But there was no way to know. All she could do was concentrate on letting her brother know where they were so they wouldn't get frozen. She aimed the phone again, and though she was fighting thinking about Mom, and not looking at where she was shooting, when she looked at the picture she'd managed to get the map. "Okay, I've got it!"

Texting was easier with one hand than taking a photo and it didn't take her long to thump out a legible message.

* * *

Guy's phone chirped in his pocket.

"Seriously, shouldn't you turn that off?" his father whispered harshly. They were creeping along a metal walkway. There was still no sign of Coldfinger.

"Yeah, wouldn't want someone to use it against me, would I?" Guy fished out the phone. "It's Kelly… hey!"

Boxter snatched the phone out of his grasp and looked at the screen. "She's okay." He hit dial and put the phone to his ear.

Guy folded his arms and resisted the urge to tap his boot on the metal walkway.

"Sweetie, it's Dad. Are you okay?" Boxter listened for a moment. "Yeah, okay, Guy's coming now… you know, SheZow. Don't play dumb. I've figured it out." He listened for another tense moment. "Okay… I'll… I'll try and find her…"

He clicked off the phone and handed it back. "She's got a map there where she and Maz are. You need to go and rescue them."

"I can do that. Wait, but what about Mom? Isn't she with them too?"

"Kelly says Coldfinger took her someplace else," said Boxter, his voice strained. "I'll go find her. But you need to go get Kelly, okay?"

"Right. Then we just need to find Coldfinger and stop him."

Boxter sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "Son…"

"Dad! We don't have time for…"

"All I was going to say was be careful, alright?" Boxter pulled back his hand. "I'm sending you after Kelly and Maz because I think they're in more danger and SheZow's the only one I trust to get them out. But you're still my son. So be careful. If you get into a fight with Coldfinger just take him down and don't do anything stupid."

Guy just nodded.

"I'll go look for your mother."

"You sure you'll be okay by yourself? What if Coldfinger shows up?"

"He won't… he'll… it sounds like he's got Kelly and Maz set up as hostages. Droosha won't be… look, it'll just be better if you go get them, okay?"

"Alright," Guy glanced at the phone in his hand and the map Kelly had sent.

Boxter began to move away down the metal walkway.

"Dad, you be careful too."

Boxter turned back and shrugged. "I'm used to this sort of thing, remember? It's my job." He turned his back and disappeared into the darkness of the factory.

"Mine too," Guy said, though he knew his father could no longer hear him. "I've just got to figure out how to tell you that."

* * *

Boxter made his way cautiously through the factory. He kept to the shadows and kept quiet. If Coldfinger found him he knew he wouldn't stand much of a chance. But he didn't think he would.

He'd had to send Guy to get Kelly, even though it was far more likely he'd run into Coldfinger. He'd had to. As much as the thought of something happening to his son, especially if he had put him in that situation, ate at his gut, Boxter knew SheZow was the best hope for rescuing Kelly and Maz. And in defeating Coldfinger.

But it wasn't just the danger that was upsetting him; it was the fact Guy had lied to him. For months. He'd put himself in danger and he'd done it whilst mucking up Megadale and breaking just about all the rules in the book. Worst of all; Boxter hadn't even twigged it was his son. And how could he? Running around in a bloody pink skirt. Putting on that bloody voice. Boxter felt his hands tense into fists. What the hell was that all about?

He had to talk to his son, he knew that. But he had no idea where to start. The last thing he wanted to do was push him away because he got too hung up on the outfit. It wasn't that. Or maybe it was. That outfit was going to get him in trouble one day. But it wasn't the important bit. He was twelve! He shouldn't be running around trying to be a superhero, breaking the rules, fighting dangerous criminals. Lying to his parents. But how was he supposed to tell him that? How, without Guy just deciding to go off and do his own thing. That's what he was doing anyway!

And why? Didn't he trust his father enough to tell him? Or was he worried about how he'd react? Like Boxter knew he was reacting now. He couldn't figure out how to actually say these things to his son without losing him completely.

It was too much, especially today. He wasn't sure he could do this alone. He needed Droosha to help him, like he always did. And that thought brought a wash of emotion. Boxter wasn't even sure she was alive. Not after what Kelly had told him.

He had to stop for a moment and rest his hand on the railing beside him. He didn't know for sure. There was no way to know for sure until he found her. Coldfinger might be wrong about the liquid nitrogen. It might not mean being permanently frozen. Boxter repressed a shudder.

She'd be okay. She had to be.

But that had been the other reason he'd sent Guy to rescue Kelly. If something terrible had happened to Droosha, Boxter didn't want his son to find her.

Boxter pushed open a metal door that was cold to the touch and found himself in a room filled with tall, steaming metal vats. This was close to where Kelly had said she'd last seen Droosha. And those vats were definitely full of liquid nitrogen. If Coldfinger had really frozen her… Boxter swallowed the lump in his throat and began to move slowly along the metal walkway that stretched between the vats, just above the level of their open tops.

"Droosha!" he called, forgetting altogether that he had promised himself to remain inconspicuous. "Babe?" There was no sound except the faint hiss of pressure equipment. She had to be here somewhere. Boxter ran along the metal walkway, his footsteps crashing and echoing off the concrete walls. He looked into each steaming container as he passed.

* * *

 **A/n:** There's a reason Boxter didn't find out about Guy in the show. Things are getting complicated and their relationship is deteriorating already. Argh. And I have to write this now. D:


	11. Chapter 11

Droosha awoke with a shudder. She was freezing. She moved her upper body and ice cracked and slipped off in small sheets. Somewhere below her something hissed and popped. Her lower body was still encased in ice. Of course, Coldfinger had pushed her into that vat. He'd tried to freeze her. She was stuck in a slab of ice that had frozen itself to the metal walls of the vat, above the level of the liquid nitrogen below. The ice that encased her upper body had started to melt. The lower part still felt solid, which, despite the discomfort and numbness it brought, was probably the only thing stopping her from falling into the liquid nitrogen.

Which would permanently freeze her.

Droosha heard the clank of metal above her. Was Coldfinger coming back to finish the job? She certainly couldn't give him a swift kick now.

"Droosha!"

It took a second for the sound of her husband's voice to sink in. "Boxter," her voice came out a croak. It felt as if there were shards of ice in her throat. She tried to clear it, thinking he couldn't have heard her. But before she could speak again the clank of rapid footsteps on metal rang out.

Boxter crashed into the railing above so hard it visibly vibrated as he leaned over. "Droosha! Sweetie, are you okay? I thought… Kelly thought Coldfinger said he was going to freeze you…"

"He kind of did," Droosha said hoarsely. "I don't think it worked as well as he thought."

"Hang on, I'll find something to get you out of there."

"Honey, the kids…"

Boxter had already disappeared. He came back a moment later, dragging a thick black rope, and slung it over the railing.

"Boxter…"

"Don't be scared; I'll get you out."

"Boxter!" she snapped. At least her voice was coming back, though her throat still felt like sandpaper. "Have you looked for the kids? Coldfinger still has Kelly. And Maz. Go and find them first!"

"SheZow is here. She's looking for them."

That brought some relief. "Okay, just as long as you're not wasting your time on me when they need…"

"I'm not wasting my time!" Boxter growled. He wouldn't look at her, but instead secured the black rope to the railing. He was struggling to tie it off properly.

Good lord, it wasn't even a rope, it was a bloody fire hose. "You can't spray that down in here! Don't you remember in high school – throw water in on this stuff and it'll explode!"

"I'm not spraying it; it's a rope!" he shot back.

"It's not a rope. It's a hose! You can't climb down on that; it's too dangerous!"

Boxter ignored her and began to tie the hose around his waist.

"Boxter, don't you dare come down in here. What about the kids?"

"Don't try and bully me out of this, alright? I'm coming in after you."

"Don't be stupid!"

"Of course I'm being stupid! I love you!" he snapped. Then he drew in a breath. "I love you. And I thought I'd lost you. And the kids. So now I've found you, I'm not just going to walk away. If something happens…" he swallowed hard. "But it won't, I'm coming in after you. And the kids will be fine. SheZow's going to find them. She'll do a better job of keeping them safe than me. But I'm coming for you."

"Oh, sweetheart…" Droosha blinked back tears. "I know you love me." And that made what she had to tell him all the harder. "But if something happens to me and to you as well, if we both fall in here, SheZow might be able to rescue Kelly, but is she going to look after her if that happens? And Guy… I hope he's okay…"

"He's fine," Boxter said shakily. "He's back at the house."

At least something was going right. "Okay. I know you want to save me. But if you can't, and this ice cracks and drops me or something, you can't come in after me. You know that right? The kids need you. They can't lose us both."

Boxter watched her for a long moment and Droosha could see his jaw trembling. "I'm still going to try to get you out, sweetheart. But I'll be careful. If you fall in," he choked and turned his attention to the knot at his waist, yanking it tighter again. "I'll be safe on this, promise. I can't promise I'll ever forgive myself though."

Droosha felt tears prick her eyes again. Luckily, it seemed to be too cold down in the vat for them to flow properly. "Oh sweetie, I… okay. You make sure you tie that nice and tight. And hurry up once you do – my boobs are freezing."

Boxter smiled faintly. "I can help with that."

"Cheeky bastard."

* * *

Guy followed Kelly's map. He was lost within five minutes. "Is it a SheZow power not to be able to read maps or something?!" He poked at his phone screen.

"Sorry, sweetie, I think that's all you," said Sheila, popping up from his ring in a flash of pink. "You need to…"

A clank sounded from somewhere up in the roofing. Guy shuddered as his SheSP went off.

"You're not real good at following instructions, are you?" Coldfinger appeared on a walkway above.

"Coldfinger! You're not going to get away with this!"

"Actually, SheCow, I am," Coldfinger snickered. "I warned you but you didn't listen…"

"Where are Kelly and Maz?!"

"Oh, they're nice and snug, don't you worry. Well, actually you should… you see, because you've gone and showed your face, I'm going to have to move my plans to freeze Megadale forward a bit. Not really a problem for me; I'm all set to go. But you're little friends are going to be in a bit of a pickle."

Coldfinger turned to a wide vertical metal pipe that was right beside him on the walkway. The walkway accessed a big red valve wheel and Coldfinger began to turn this as he spoke. "You see, I need to get all of the liquid nitrogen out of the storage vats, and move it up closer to the roof where I can get at it more easily. And your little friends just happen to be stuck right where all that liquid nitrogen has to travel through."

Guy hands balled into fists. "You leave them alone! You touch them, and I'll take that liquid nitrogen and cram it right up…"

"You can't blame me, SheCow," Coldfinger laughed. "You could've stayed away. If I'd been able to leave this until midnight, their bonds might have melted and they could've escaped." He leaned into the valve wheel with one last effort and the pipe groaned and let out a horrendous shudder.

Too late, Guy realised he had been activating the flow of liquid nitrogen. "Hey! Boomerang brush!" He hurled the weapon at Coldfinger and hit the villain square in the nose.

"Ow!" Coldfinger crashed to the walkway floor, clutching at his face.

Guy flew up to the walkway. He landed, and just as he did a blast of ice shot past him and impacted the valve wheel. "You missed, genius," He turned his attention to the valve. He had to turn that off quick. It would be no match for SheZow's superstrength. He grasped it in his hands, ignoring the sudden cold from Coldfinger's missed hit. The valve resisted slightly, let out a groan, and then the wheel snapped clean off in Guy's hands. "Wha…?!" He stared at the wheel in his hands, eyes wide. "Wait, go back on…" He pushed it back into the hole it had snapped out of, but it had no hope of engaging.

Coldfinger cackled. "I didn't miss, genius. Metal's brittle at low temperatures, didn't you know that? Hah! Guess I would've done alright at Megadale University… too late now, I suppose. Because it'll be frozen solid in under an hour!"

Guy whirled back around and tossed the useless wheel. "No, it won't! I'll stop you!"

"But your friends will be frozen in about two minutes, remember? So I don't think so."

Guy's chest heaved, his fists tense. He glared at Coldfinger. And then he shot off the walkway and flew as fast as he could through the factory.

He had to find them. He had to. He couldn't lose his sister. Or Maz. And if he did, Dad would know exactly who to blame.

Guy flew through a door; he still had no idea where he was. Where he was going. Where were they?

"Your second left," Sheila's voice cut into his panic. "Then right after that."

"Thanks Sheila." Guy breathed a sigh of relief and followed Sheila's directions. He shot into a wide open space with some sort of conveyer system.

"Guy!" Kelly's voice made its way up from somewhere below. She and Maz were stuck to some sort of waterslide looking thing below. Guy momentarily wondered what such a thing was doing in a factory, when from one end of the room a rumble sounded. Steam began to hiss from under a sluice gate.

Guy flew down to Kelly and Maz. "Hang on, I'll get you out." He took out his laser lipstick and cut the tape that held them to the chairs. But their feet and the chairs were still frozen to the floor.

Behind them came the roar of liquid being released and the temperature began to drop.

Kelly let out a little shriek. "Guy! Get us out of here!"

"Cover your ears."

Maz and Kelly both did as instructed.

Guy drew in a deep breath and let out a supersonic shriek. The ice around Maz and Kelly's feet began to vibrate and shattered.

The freezing liquid rocketed towards them.

Guy grabbed Maz and Kelly by the collar and hoisted them into the air just as the liquid nitrogen raced beneath them, engulfing the chairs. He flew them up to one of the metal walkways and deposited them on their feet.

"Hey!" said Kelly. Both she and Maz promptly fell over.

"Jeesh, sorry," Guy winced. "Are you okay?"

"I think my toes are still frozen," Maz grumbled, massaging his feet.

"Where's Coldfinger?" Kelly asked.

"He's going to freeze Megadale now!" said Guy. "I nearly had him, but I had to…" He let out a huff and bit down on his words. He didn't want to blame Kelly and Maz for letting Coldfinger go.

"That must be what all the liquid nitrogen coming through was about," said Kelly. "If he wants to use it, he'll probably have to head to the roof. You need to stop him, Guy."

"Sure, but are you going to be okay?"

"We'll be fine, dude," said Maz. He struggled to stand up but fell over again. "We'll follow you as soon as we can."

Guy took off to the roof.

* * *

Boxter made his way cautiously down the side of the insulated metal vat. He'd found a set of thin metal rungs in the interior, but he wouldn't have been happy using these without his quickly fashioned rope. They were small, and slippery with ice.

"Be careful, honey," said Droosha from below.

Boxter winced as his shoe slipped off a rung and the rope brought him up short.

"Boxter!"

"Heh…" He was almost there. "I'm fine. It's just like, you know, that time you took me ab sailing…"

"They had proper equipment. And you still got stuck."

"Hey, only for ten minutes or something."

"It was almost half an hour. I know. I counted."

"Well, I guess we're even now, huh? At least I didn't get stuck in an ice cube. " Boxter took another few cautious steps downwards, feeling for the rungs beneath him. He wasn't sure if he was trying to start up the banter for his own sake, or Droosha's. He was nervous enough climbing into this thing. Despite the chill, he was sweating, which made the cold worse. But he had a rope and he wasn't half encased in ice.

He was right beside her now. Boxter anchored one hand firmly to a rung and swung himself out a bit so he could properly see Droosha and her icy prison. He forced his best, goofy grin. "Come here often?"

Droosha was trying hard to glare at him, but she smiled back faintly. And she was trembling. God, she must be freezing. "Funny, mister. How bad is it? I can't see anything down there."

Her upper body was defrosted, to her waist. Her lower was still encased in the ice. Near the top it was cracking a little but lower down, closer to the steaming nitrogen, it looked rock solid. Boxter swallowed. "Not too bad. But I don't think the rest of this is going to defrost. I might be able to crack it though. Get you out that way."

"Just don't knock the slab off the wall. Or…"

"Yeah, I know."

Boxter began fumbling with the hose about his waist. He should've looked for a tool or a bit of metal before he came down. At least he'd left enough hose loose on the end that he could get the metal nozzle free. "Okay, just hold still. I'll be careful."

"Forget careful," Droosha said, "just get me out of this."

Boxter swung himself over closer and Droosha grabbed onto his shoulder to help him stay in place beside her. He began to chip away at the ice on top, where it was most brittle.

Droosha held onto him tighter, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're warm."

"Yeah…" Boxter continued to chip away at the ice. Even Droosha's breath was cold. But having her so near sent shivers through him. So near, and he could still lose her.

"It's okay, honey. We'll both be out of this soon," she said.

Boxter swallowed, suddenly finding himself unable to reply. He continued to chip away at the ice. Why was she telling him it was going to be okay? It should've been the other way around.

Something in the factory hissed and then the vat and everything around them rumbled and shook.

"What the hell's that?" Droosha said. She held onto Boxter's neck tighter, which was probably a good thing, because the sudden vibration almost swung him away from her.

Boxter let the hose nozzle swing loose and gripped onto his wife tight. "I don't know."

A roar of moving liquid followed. The steam in the vat stirred up and shot skywards. It cleared, if only a little, and the rumbling subsided. But it was replaced by a far more worrying sound.  
A cracking.

Boxter glanced down at the slab of ice, struggling to see through the still dissipating steam. Maybe it was cracking around Droosha, ready to release. But then Droosha's body jerked downwards; weight dragged at Boxter's shoulders as he struggled to hold on to her.

"Boxter!"

Boxter grunted and just managed to arrest the fall of the slab of ice. It had only partly released from the vat wall. But the cracking noise continued. He could feel the rubber of the hose pulling tight about his waist, the noose closing so tight it hurt. He squeezed his eyes shut. But he wasn't about to let Droosha go.

"Honey, it's okay, you can let me go…"

"No," Boxter choked out. But his grip was slipping, the muscles in his shoulders tearing. God, he couldn't hold on to a half tonne of ice.

Droosha's grip slipped free. The hose sprung back, slamming Boxter into the vat wall. Somehow, his hand found one of the rungs, and he held onto this for dear life. He still hadn't opened his eyes. And he couldn't. He'd let her go.

Boxter sagged against the vat wall. He was shaking. Not from the cold. He'd let her go.

"Boxter?"

Boxter cracked open his eyes. The steam in the bottom of the vat had almost cleared. The vat was empty.

Droosha was sprawled on the metal floor, chunks of ice strewn about her. "I think… I think all that rumbling was these things emptying. It's okay, sweetheart. I'm not…"

Boxter fumbled with the knot at his waist and slipped free of the rope. He landed on the metal floor, slipping on the icy build up and skidded down on his knees to throw his arms around Droosha's neck. "Babe." He couldn't put any more words together. Only hold her tight to his chest and bury his face in her shoulder.

* * *

 **A/n:** I think I may have mentioned it before, but I ship Droosha and Boxter so much. They're such cuties.


	12. Chapter 12

Coldfinger was already on the roof when Guy got there. The villain had his arms raised to the storm above and surrounding the factory. Liquid nitrogen spurted out from the exhausts on the roof to swirl about him and then be pumped up into the storm. Lighting flashed, and the wind howled. The temperature was dropping. Coldfinger was supercharging the storm and once he'd done that he'd hurl it at Megadale and that would be the last of the city. And everyone who lived there.

"Coldfinger!" Guy's voice was snatched away by the wind. "Fine." He flew straight at Coldfinger, dodging through the winding thread of liquid nitrogen about the villain – certainly touching that would freeze him – and smashed into Coldfinger in a flying tackle.

They tumbled across the roof and skidded to a stop in a snow drift. Guy landed on top and straddled Coldfinger, pinning him down. He whipped out his laser lipstick and held it to Coldfinger's throat. "It's over, frosty."

"Too late, SheCow. Look!" Coldfinger pointed to the sky.

Guy looked up and powered down the lipstick. The storm continued to howl. It was sucking up the liquid nitrogen directly from the exhaust piping.

"It doesn't need me to feed it anymore!" Coldfinger cackled.

"Heavy handed super she slap!" Guy smacked Coldfinger hard and he slumped down into the snowdrift.

Guy stood to his feet. The nitrogen continued to be siphoned up into the storm from the exhaust pipes; it didn't stop. "Not good," Guy winced. The storm might not need Coldfinger anymore. But it seemed to need that nitrogen.

Guy flew up and wrapped his arms around the nearest exhaust "So cold…" He ignoring the freezing metal pressed against his chest and squeezed. It buckled under SheZow's super strength and the flow lessened. With one last squeeze he was able to bend the pipe over on itself. The nitrogen spurted downwards and splattered the snow on the roof out of the way with an explosive poof before cutting off completely.

Guy moved onto the second and last exhaust. He squeezed it tight. Buckled it in. And began to bend it downwards.

Pain knifed through him like shards of fire as something impacted his shoulder and flung him away from the exhausts. Guy hit the roof awkwardly and rolled. He sat up, clutching at his shoulder. The sting dissipated, replaced by numbness. A half dozen shards of ice poked out between his fingers, their bases where they met his outfit stained pink. Guy hissed as fighting back tears he forced himself to stand to his feet.

Coldfinger flung another flurry of icicles in his direction.

Guy ducked and rolled behind a raised air conditioning vent. The plink of ice on metal rattled off the back of the vent.

"Oh, SheZow! Come out come out wherever you are!" said Coldfinger. "You're not messing this up for me again, you hear me?! But I'll play! I can take care of you first. Then I'll reopen those pipes, recharge the storm, and freeze Megadale. Suits me just fine!"

Guy drew in deep breaths and tried to steady the pounding of his heart. His shoulder was numb and he didn't have a great deal of movement in that arm. He still had to take down Coldfinger. He didn't have a choice. He stepped out from behind the vent, but Coldfinger was nowhere to be seen.

Guy's SheSP went off and he stepped to the side just as an ice shard big as a butcher's knife shot past him and impaled the metal beside him.

Guy whirled around. The snow in the air was getting thicker. Where the hell was Coldfinger?

A cackle carried to him on the air. "This is my element, SheZow. You'll never catch me!"

"Come out and fight me like a man!" Guy shouted.

"But you're a girl, that'd be a little unfair, wouldn't it?"

"You scared of a girl or something?"

"No!"

"Yeah, you should be. I don't blame you," Guy said, putting on his best sass. Sometimes, pretending to be a girl was that much more useful.

Coldfinger leapt out from the other side of the air-conditioning vent, landed on its top, and hurled shards of ice at Guy again.

Guy let out a supersonic shriek, shattering the ice, and sending Coldfinger sprawling to the snowy ground again. "You stay down!" he shouted, as Coldfinger began to push himself to his feet.

"SheZow!" Kelly and Maz flung open the door to the roof.

"Kelly, Maz, stay back…"

But Coldfinger had already seen them. "Bonus points!" He flung a flurry of ice shards at them.

Kelly shrieked and Maz tackled her to the ground. The ice shards flew over their heads.

Ignoring the numb in his shoulder, Guy flew at Coldfinger. He grabbed him in a headlock and hauled him into the air. "Leave them alone!"

"Bad move, SheCow!" Though they were nowhere near the edges of the howling storm surrounding them, a flurry of snow and ice whipped out, a tendril of fury under Coldfinger's control. The tendril slipped around them and sucked them up into the storm's howling winds.

Guy was tossed sideways. He clung to Coldfinger for dear life. His hair was a bird's nest in seconds. Above the shriek of the winds, he could hear Coldfinger laughing. "You're crazy!" he said through gritted teeth. "You'll kill us both!"

"This is my storm, you silly moo!"

Lightning cracked. Guy squeezed his eyes shut tight. He had no control over where the winds tossed him, and he doubted, despite his brazen attitude, Coldfinger had much more. He could feel the sting begin to spread again in his shoulder. It grew worse now that SheZow's powers had been compromised. But he still clung to Coldfinger's jacket. He couldn't let him escape; at least if he held onto him he had some hope of defeating him.

The storm finally spat them out. There was a sudden drop in the roar of the winds; Coldfinger squirmed free of his grip and then Guy smacked hard into something. When he opened his eyes, Guy found himself sprawled on the factory's roof. He tried to stand to his feet, but his muscles shuddered, and he collapsed back to his knees, clutching his shoulder and fighting down the pain.

Coldfinger stepped out of the swirling snow before him. In his hand he held a three foot long sword made of pure ice. His eyes held an icy sparkle. And he didn't laugh. "End of the line, SheZow. It's been fun."

He raised the sword into the air. But then he paused and a faint grin crossed his face. "Actually, I've forgotten something. I made you a promise, SheZow. That your little friends would die if you came here."

"Go to hell, Coldfinger," Guy spat. "You'll never find them now; they're not that stupid."

Coldfinger held the sword to Guy's throat. "I think they will. Oh, SheZow's little friends!" he called out in a sing song voice. "Why don't you come out?" He moved the sword down to Guy's belly. "Unless you want me to gut her here right now."

Guy repressed a shudder. "Well, go on then."

"Wait!" Kelly appeared through the flurries of snow, dragging Maz by the hand. She wasn't having to do a lot of dragging.

Coldfinger grinned.

And Guy's heart sank. "Kelly! What are you doing?"

"Saving your butt, SheZow," Kelly said through gritted teeth.

"What do you know, your friends are stupid. Now, what do you feel like? Popsicles or fish fillets?"

Despite fighting the pain his shoulder, despite his panic, the question threw him. "Pardon?"

Coldfinger held up the sword in one hand. "Fish fillets?" He held up his other hand and a sliver of liquid nitrogen darted to him through the cold air. It swirled above his hand to form a tight liquid ball. "Or popsicles?"

Guy stood shakily to his feet. His head swam. "Leave them alone."

"What you going to do about it, SheCow?"

Guy didn't know. He could barely stand.

"Pick one!" Coldfinger barked.

"You fight me," Guy said shakily. "That's what you're going to do."

"That's not one of the options!"

Guy drew in shaking breaths. He couldn't do it, he couldn't draw Coldfinger away.

"Maybe one each way? How does that sound?" Coldfinger swung up the sword.

Maz stepped in front of Kelly.

"Maz!" Kelly punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow! You won't feel anything if he freezes you…"

"Shut up!" Coldfinger shrieked at both of them, turning his back on Guy.

Guy grasped the biggest ice shard in his shoulder and tugged. It tore free and he gasped, tears squeezing from his eyes. A wave of pain hit him so bad that his vision blurred and he nearly fainted.

Coldfinger took another step towards Maz. Kelly was dragging on Maz's arm, but she wasn't strong enough to make him back down.

Guy threw himself on Coldfinger's back, wrapped his arms around his neck, and sank the icy shard deep into the villain's chest.

Coldfinger screeched. He dropped the sword to the ground. And dropped his hold on the swirling mass of liquid nitrogen.

They crashed over backwards; Coldfinger landed hard on top of Guy. Guy lost his grip on Coldfinger. He could only hope he'd hit him hard enough, because his strength was fading fast.

And then Coldfinger let out a wail, which choked off suddenly. The villain's body suddenly felt like a dead weight, and cold. Coldfinger was cold already, but this was something more. Guy could feel the chill begin to crawl up his skin. And then someone grabbed him by the arm and yanked him away.

Coldfinger fell back towards the roof top tiles. The villain's body was completely rigid, and then it hit the tiles and shattered into a million pieces.

"It's okay, dude, I've got you." Maz held Guy back, supporting him as he eased him to the floor a safe distance from Coldfinger's shattered remains.

Guy clung onto his friend's arm, even after he realised the battle was done. "What, what happened?" he stammered. He'd meant to stab Coldfinger, but…

"He dropped the liquid nitrogen right in his own lap," said Maz. He shuddered. "Serves him right."

"Damn it, Guy," Kelly knelt down next to him and squeezed his hand. "Are you okay?"

"I… I think so…" Guy stared at the pile of crushed ice before him. Was that the end of Coldfinger? The thought made him shake, but he didn't feel quite as bad about it as he thought he should. Not after what Coldfinger had tried to do to Kelly and Maz.

Kelly huffed. "No you're not. Here." She pulled out a can of shellac. "I don't know if this will help…" She sprayed it through SheZow's hair.

Guy felt some of his strength return. He stood to his feet, clutching at his shoulder. The return of his powers didn't quite stop that hurting.

"Hey, see, there you go," said Maz, clearly relieved.

Kelly rounded on Maz. "And you. What did you think you were playing at?"

Maz threw his hands in the air. "What?!"

"The sword, Maz! Baiting Coldfinger into running you through!"

"I didn't want him to do it to you…"

"Yeah, well, if you do it again, I'll… I'll kill you myself!" She punched him half-heartedly in the shoulder.

The storm still roared overhead, but it seemed to have grown quieter. The snow flurries around them didn't quite blot out the view of the rest of the roof. The half bent exhaust spluttered out liquid nitrogen, which was still being sucked up to the storm in short bursts.

He still had a job to do. Guy gathered himself and flew up to the exhausts.

"Guy!" Kelly shouted after him.

It took him a little longer than the first one, but he managed to completely bend over the still spluttering exhaust and shut off the flow of liquid nitrogen. Guy landed back on the roof, rubbing at his shoulder.

"Will you sit still?" Kelly snapped.

"I'm fine," Guy growled, "What do you want me to do, let that thing hit Megadale?"

"I think it's dying with Coldfinger."

The three of them watched as the storm burnt itself out. Without Coldfinger or the liquid nitrogen to feed it, the swirl and howl of the wind died down. The lightning stopped. In short minutes all that was left was the chill in the air and flurries of snow tossed about on a light wind.

"You need to get Sheila to look at that," said Kelly, gently touching Guy's shoulder.

"Hey…" Guy pulled back from her. "It's fine," he said, forcing himself to move his hand away. Kind of. It still hurt a bit.

"Yeah, but do you want Dad to see you got hurt?"

Guy winced. He was in enough trouble already but if Dad saw him bleeding he'd probably completely freak and never let him out of his sight again. "Good point."

"And how did he find out anyway? You were supposed to keep your identity secret! Dad's going to flip his lid, especially because…" she gestured down at his outfit, "Well, you know."

Guy sighed. "I guess I'll find out when we all get home, won't I?"

Kelly glared at him, but then her gaze softened. "Guess so. I don't envy you, little brother."

"Yeah. Just… just tell them SheZow took off in the Shehicle so that detective wouldn't take if off her again. That should be enough to stop Dad worrying." But what about Dad? He'd actually stolen the Shehicle. What would Johannsson say to that? Guy felt he could handle a fight about SheZow with his father when they got home. But what if Dad lost his job on top of everything else?

"Okay, get home safe." Kelly squeezed his arm one last time, careful to avoid his shoulder.

Guy made his way across the roof and climbed into the SHE-C-10. It started up all by itself.

"I'll fly you home, sweetheart," said Sheila, appearing on the screen. "You just sit tight."

Guy sunk back into the upholstery. "Thanks, Sheila."

* * *

Boxter kept his arm around Droosha all the way down through the factory. His heart still hammered in his chest; it had scared him beyond belief when he thought he'd dropped her. Droosha didn't seem to mind; in fact she clung to him in an effort to fight off the cold. Holding onto her was as much for his benefit as hers.

When they walked out of the factory they found the cops waiting at the front doors. Well, Boxter supposed it was better to face the music now. He drew his arm tighter around Droosha's shoulders.

"Hamdon," Johannsson slid out of one of the big black SUVs and made her way over. "Thank God, you're alright. I take it you took care of Coldfinger?"

Not quite the reaction he had expected. "No, I think that was SheZow." And if Coldfinger was taken care of, that had to mean Guy was okay. Didn't it?

Johansson smiled faintly. "Yeah, we saw the Shehicle punch into the storm."

Boxter winced. "Yeah, about that. It might be better if you hear it from me…"

Johansson held up a hand. "Relax, Hamdon. I already know you stole the car from the impound. One thing I can't pin on SheZow, I suppose. Not that there's much chance of pinning anything on her now."

"Wait, you stole her supercar?" Droosha looked up at him.

So who was he going to be in more trouble with now? "Yeah…"

"And I suppose you're going to want to charge him for that, aren't you?" Droosha rounded on Johansson.

"Technically, he should lose his job. He was ordered to go off duty as well."

"Are you kidding me?! If stealing the Shehicle was the only reason he and SheZow got in, then if he hadn't SheZow wouldn't have stopped Coldfinger from destroying Megadale!"

Boxter squeezed Droosha tighter, afraid she'd go into full flight at any second. "Honey…"

"Boxter, no. If you're not going to stand up for yourself, then I will."

"I knew what I was doing when I took it," Boxter growled. "I'd rather have you guys safe than my job. If I lose it, it's my own fault."

"No," said Johansson, startling both of them. "Your wife's right, Hamdon. That supercar is the only reason you got in. I should have released it for you."

"Damn right. So what about his job?"

Johansson shrugged. "I'll figure something out. I'll release the Shehicle and backdate the paperwork, or something. Things aren't that hard to sweep under the rug if you know what you're doing."

And Johansson certainly knew about sweeping things under the rug. Boxter let out a sigh and felt Droosha squeeze her arm around him. Well, that was one weight off his shoulders. He had enough to deal with right now.

"So, the storm's gone; is everyone safe?" Johansson asked.

Droosha stiffened against his arm. "Wait, the kids aren't down here?" she asked. "Didn't SheZow bring them down?"

"Oh, I bet SheZow is long gone," said Johansson, looking pointedly at Boxter.

"Well, where are they?" Droosha spun around.

"Mom!" Kelly burst out of the factory behind them, with Maz following close behind.

Droosha released her grip on Boxter and threw her arms around her daughter. Boxter's shoulders sagged. Another thing he didn't have to worry about. "Sweetheart…" he said, when Kelly finally let go of Droosha.

Kelly came and hugged him too. "Dad, I'm sorry about everything with Guy," she said, lowering her voice.

Boxter sighed. How much had been going on right under his nose that he hadn't noticed? "Hey, it's okay. Where is she? Is she okay?"

"She?" said Kelly, glancing at Droosha. His daughter was sharp as a tack. Boxter could see it dawn on her face almost immediately – he'd yet to tell her mother about Guy. "Oh, SheZow. SheZow took the Shehicle and went home. She's fine though. She stopped Coldfinger."

Boxter felt his guts clench as Droosha turned back to him and smiled. She had a hand on Maz's shoulder; she'd been checking he was okay too. "She was growing on you, wasn't she?"

"Huh?"

"SheZow."

"Yeah," Boxter smiled back at her faintly. But his insides were churning. He should tell her. She was his wife; they were a team. But he didn't know where he was supposed to start. If she knew, she'd know what to do, what to say to Guy. But then she'd have to deal with the same feelings he was trying to sort through now.

Droosha seemed to sense something was bothering him, because she came back to his side and put her arms around him. "Boxter, it's okay. We're all safe. We can go home now."

Boxter squeezed Droosha back and closed his eyes. He could feel her, right there in his arms, but suddenly she felt far away. And that was when he realised he'd decided not to tell her about their son.


	13. Chapter 13

After Sheila fixed him up, Guy waited in the kitchen for his family to come home. It was what he would've been doing anyway, assuming he really had been stuck here whilst half his family had been kidnapped by some crazed supervillain. He was exhausted and his shoulder still felt stiff. But despite this thoughts of his impending talk with his father kept him wide awake. He was going to get in trouble, he knew that. So he may as well stay up and get it over with.

When Kelly, Mom and Dad arrived home, it wasn't hard to pretend he was glad to see them. Well, at least Kelly and Mom.

Droosha threw her arms around his neck as soon as she came in through the door. "Don't worry, sweetie. We're all okay. I hope you didn't worry too much."

"No, Mom," Guy said, tolerating the hand she ruffled through his hair. He stole a glance at his father. Boxter just watched them both with an unreadable expression.

"It's so nice to be home where it's warm. I need a hot shower. You coming up to bed?" Droosha asked, grasping Boxter's arm.

"I'll be there in a minute, I just wanted to ask Guy something."

Guy felt his blood run cold. He swallowed hard.

"Honey, Coldfinger's gone. You don't have to worry anymore." Droosha kissed Boxter gently on the cheek.

He smiled faintly at her. "I know."

"Don't be long," she disappeared upstairs.

Kelly glanced between Boxter and Guy. "I'll… um… night." She paused briefly as she slipped past Guy. "Good luck," she whispered. And then she was gone, leaving Guy and Boxter alone in the kitchen.

"So, do you still have a job?" Guy asked. Despite his intentions to stay up and get this over with, it was easier to ask something that wasn't about SheZow. Not directly.

"Yeah, I've still got a job. Johansson said she'd take care of it."

"Oh, okay, that's… good."

"Come on. Let's go somewhere your Mom can't hear us." Boxter stepped out of the kitchen.

As if he wasn't nervous enough already. Guy drew in a breath and followed more slowly. He found his father waiting for him on the back porch. He sat on the back steps, staring out at the stars visible through the clearing cloud cover.

Guy sat down next to him. He stole a glance at Boxter, still in his police uniform, his broad shoulders straining the blue material. How could he ever live up to that? All he'd wanted was for his Dad to like SheZow. To realise she could do the cop thing too. But now he knew who she was. His son. Of course he wouldn't be proud of him. How could he? SheZow was the epitome of what he wouldn't want for his son. What had he been thinking?

"Come on, Dad," Guy tried, the quiver in his voice all too noticeable, "we did an okay job, right? We made a good team." He bumped his Dad's shoulder with his own. "Right?"

Boxter didn't budge at the touch, or look at him. "You lied to me, Guy."

Guy felt a lump rise in his throat. "I'm sorry Dad, but what did you expect me to do?! You hate SheZow."

"I don't hate SheZow. I'm just not comfortable with some of the things she does."

"Like what?" Guy pressed. He knew he wouldn't like the answer.

"Like trashing Megadale. Like leaving messes for the cops like we're nothing more than her personal, low-paid clean-up crew. Now I find out that was you? You know that hurts, right?"

"That's not what I think of you, Dad." But that wasn't all of it. He was sure. "But you forgot one thing. You don't like that it turns out SheZow's your son, do you?"

Boxter was quite for a long moment, then he shook his head. "No, I don't."

Guy felt his heart plunge. "Well, I am, Dad. If you can't handle that I'm running around saving the world in pink, fine. But it's not like I have much of a choice. You see this!" He held up his hand, showing his father the ring. "This is where SheZow's powers come from."

Boxter eyed it warily. "So take it off."

"I can't. It doesn't come off. I got it from Aunt Agnes, after she died. She was SheZow. Now I am. It's not something I can just give up on."

Boxter stared at him. "Aunt Agnes was SheZow?" He glanced back at the house behind him, huffed and shook his head. "Guess nothing's ever really truly free, huh?"

"And I don't even like the pink! It's just that SheZow's always been a woman, so that outfit is what I got stuck with. Otherwise her powers don't work."

"You're not worried what people will think?"

"No. No one knows it's me anyway."

"You might be able to get away with pretending to be a girl now, Guy. But you're going to grow up. You know that, right? You might be able to keep your identity secret; but sooner or later someone will figure out you're not what you seem. Especially if you end up with my build."

That thought made Guy's stomach churn. "So?" he snapped. "I don't care. I can suck it up and save the world in pink if I have to. If people want to think something else, that's their problem. Is that what you're so worried about? It going to embarrass you if someone finds out about me?"

"No. I'm scared if that happens, if people say things, you're going to get hurt."

"Well, if that happens I can deal with it."

Boxter looked at him with tired eyes, then he just sighed and shrugged. "If that's true, you're a bigger man than me. I don't think I could do it."

Boxter turned his attention back to the ring. Guy self-consciously covered it with his other hand.

"You know, just because that thing's stuck on you, doesn't mean you don't have a choice."

Guy could feel his muscles tensing. "I choose to protect Megadale, Dad, same as you do. You just do it in blue."

"You can still choose to stop…" Boxter growled.

Guy bristled. "You're not asking me to choose to stop. You're telling me. How would you like it if you'd lost your job today? What you do is probably dangerous too, but it doesn't stop you protecting Megadale. You wouldn't have had a choice in that and asking me to quit is exactly the same thing!"

"Guy, it is not the same thing!" Boxter snapped. "You're putting yourself in danger. You're twelve! I wouldn't up and tell you to join the police force at twelve. But now I find out you've been running around fighting villains and I didn't even know. I just… I don't know what I'm supposed to tell you! I don't want to lose you. I'd saw off my own arm before I'd let anything happen to you or Kelly. But I can't tell you you're not allowed to do this, because I know you won't listen. I'll just push you away and then I could still lose you. I mean, what if…" his shoulders slumped and he put his head in one hand.

It was a moment before he could continue on, his voice strained. "What if I wake up one day and have to go to a crime scene? What if some foolish superhero has gone and got herself killed, and I get there and it's you?" He swallowed hard. "What would I tell your Mom?"

"You're not going to tell her about me now?"

"I don't want her to have to worry like I am. I kind of just wish I'd never thought of dialling your phone."

Guy fiddled with his ring. "You can still fix that. SheZow's got these pink crystals… they can be used to make people forget stuff. I give you some of those and it could all go back to the way it was."

Boxter looked up. "You can't get out of this that easy, son."

"I'm trying to help you!"

"Guy, I can't. I'm your Dad. I can't just forget about this."

"If you forgot, we wouldn't have to fight. You wouldn't have to worry about pushing me away. And I did just fine before you knew, you know!"

"I may not have the guts to run around saving the world in a skirt, but I'm not going to run away from protecting you."

So much for that idea. Guy shrugged. "So what now? You don't want me to do this; but you know you can't stop me."

Boxter smiled faintly, but Guy could see tears in his eyes. "I can't, can I? Figured as much."

"Aw, Dad. I'm not trying to be difficult. It's just it isn't as dangerous as you think. I've got superpowers. And now that you know who I am, you can help me. I mean, you did work really well with SheZow. You could still help me. We got a lot more done when we worked together; it's better than me having to bail every time I hear sirens."

"Not sure if sharing classified info with SheZow would help me keep my job if someone found out. Pretty sure I'm on thin ice with Johansson, whatever she says."

"Yeah, but…"

"I'll still do it in a heartbeat. As long as it helps you stay safe."

"So does that mean I can be SheZow?"

"Yeah," Boxter sighed. "It looks like I can't stop you. But if I think you're doing something that's going to get you hurt; then I will stop you."

"I'm not going to get hurt," Guy growled. He ignored the twinge in his shoulder.

"You let me worry about what I think is going to hurt you or not. But no more lying to me. Whatever's going on, you've got to let me know. I can't help you if you don't."

Guy sighed. "Deal."

"And try and cut down on the collateral damage, will ya? You don't need to smash up everything all the time. Keep that up and I will take away your skateboard."

Guy's eyes widened. "Dad!"

"I'm serious; you can't expect me to completely roll over," Boxter growled. "All that damage is just unnecessary and it's usually us cops that have to clean it up."

Guy sighed. "Alright." It had gone better than he'd hoped for. At least his father hadn't tried to completely stop him. Guy had no idea how that would have turned out. All he knew was that if he had he wouldn't do as he was told. And then everything would be downhill from there.

But Guy still didn't feel good about it. His Dad would've been happier if he'd given it all up. But he couldn't. Boxter was still disappointed in him. He swallowed and stood to his feet, rubbing at his sore shoulder. "We should go to bed."

"Guy…"

"Dad, I'm tired."

"I just… you know whatever happens, I love you, right?" He swallowed hard. "You do do a good job as SheZow. I mean, you saved Megadale today; the cops wouldn't have been able to stop Coldfinger. I just… I want you to know I am proud of you. I'm just scared."

Guy felt tears sting his eyes. He dropped back down and threw his arms around his father's neck. "Thanks, Dad."

"Promise me you'll be careful. Please." Boxter gripped him back.

"I promise." How could he do otherwise? His Dad was proud of him, despite everything Guy had feared he would take issue with. That was all he needed.

* * *

Boxter climbed the stairs to the bedroom and slipped in quietly through the door. He didn't know if he'd gotten through. It'd been stupid to think it was something he could solve in one night. Guy didn't understand. Not fully.

Droosha was already fast asleep, buried under at least two quilts. He sunk down onto the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb her.

It had been so tempting to flat out tell Guy he couldn't be SheZow. But it would never have worked. It wasn't that he'd lied about being proud of his son – he was. Despite the damage he caused, what he was doing took guts. And it was more than obvious he had his heart set on it. But it was the danger. Without the danger, Boxter would have only been mildly uncomfortable with the whole concept.

And Guy didn't understand that. Sooner or later, something would happen. He'd pick a fight with the wrong villain. Boxter's shoulders sagged, and he leaned down to slip off his shoes. Guy was going to get hurt. He could only hope now that he knew he could temper his son's reckless behaviour. Just get him to think things through before he rushed in headlong. He might have had superpowers, but he was still a kid.

Boxter pulled off his belt, but he was too exhausted to undress further. He slipped into bed, his back to his wife.

Droosha shifted beside him. "You know I'm going to have to iron that in the morning," she muttered. Then she put an arm around him. "You're warm… never mind…"

Boxter tensed. But she said no more, and her breathing steadied. She'd fallen back asleep. Boxter relaxed; he didn't trust himself to speak to her right now. He could only think of Guy. And how totally helpless he felt.

Though it had been a long day, it took him ages to fall asleep.

On the roof of the factory on the outskirts of Megadale, the sun beat down. Most of the snow had melted already. Save for some hard shards of ice. There were hundreds of them. But they had begun to shrink, forming an ever growing puddle that seemed to shudder and gather itself into one place.

* * *

 **A/n:** Okay, so that was hard to write and I hope I got it right. So does Boxter… And yes, he should talk to his wife; that is not going to turn out well. He's being stubborn.

Nope, I didn't kill Coldfinger. XD

Please review! :)


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